Does whatever a spider can...

[word_geek]

I don't often get to scoop free_laddicals on comic-book movie news, but since I have a three-hour time zone advantage, I'll post this bit I saw: Spider-Man 4 had its start of shooting delayed because of disagreements over the villain. Sam Raimi wants the Vulture; the studio wants the Black Cat. Evidently this is taking the same lines as the previous movie,

Comments

[mmaresca]

There's been plenty of wrongness with the Spider-Man franchise, but I have to say, if Raimi wants Vulture, and the studio wants Black Cat: THE STUDIO IS RIGHT.

[free_laddicals]

Totally agree, though I don't think she's sufficiently villainous enough to carry the movie as the main villain.

Also: the Lizard. He's RIGHT THERE, RAIMI! Uuuuuuse hiiiiiiim!

[word_geek]

Bear in mind though, that "the studio wants to use the Black Cat" most likely doesn't mean "the studio wants to tell the story about conflicted thief Felicia Hardy and her father, the famous second-story man now dying of cancer," as much as "the studio wants to cast Megan Fox, or the equivalent, as a character named Felicia Hardy, who may do, uh, something or other."

Because, as I said, you can certainly fit the Black Cat into the story as a subplot, but if the studio's main reason is that they don't want some septuagenarian as the main bad-guy, that could lead to bad story decisions. In which case, use the Lizard, or Chameleon, or Electro (with a costume update, of course).

Picture, for a moment, the areal chase sequences between Spidey and the Vulture, with current technology. That's something I'd pay to see.

[mmaresca]

See, there it comes back down to Raimi-- does he take the directive with good grace, and go, "All right, I'll use Black Cat" and then tell the best Black Cat story he can? Or does he shove her in there inorganically? Because, you're right, Venom is shoehorned in there, but it almost comes off as Raimi went, "Fine, I'll use Venom" and then proceeded to pull a Straczynski to show how bad an idea Venom actually was.

[word_geek]

You're right -- Venom isn't a bad idea inherently; the "evil opposite" thing can be done quite well, especially in a comic-book movie. The problem is that Venom doesn't go with Sandman in any way at all. Or at least, not in any way I'm aware of, and clearly not in any way Raimi could think of either. Black Cat, though, can fit quite nicely in a story with the Vulture. He's a thief; she's a thief. He's not a raging psychopath or a revenge-bent megalomaniac. Most of the time, he's just a very smart guy with one trick who wants to make some cash and retire quietly. That can work with the Black Cat in the story, if it's done properly.

(If you absolutely must have two villains in a movie, go with the Chameleon and Kraven the Hunter. Those two have been together in comics since the 60s. Just whatever you do, do not mention Venom and Carnage. Seriously. Just put it down, and back slowly away.)

[fluffiana]

Totally agree with you about Megan Fox, but a studio would probably want to give the Felicia Hardy character a more "updated" name.