Ok, so I know that it's been two months since my last post. I know that this site has become beyond dead over the course of the last year. There's been a number of reasons for that, to be honest. Some of it has been due to me relocating up to the Bay Area. As it turns out, starting over in a new area and trying to make new friends and a new life is a lot of work. It takes a lot of time to get things going.
That part is beginning to settle down a bit though. I've gotten fairly well situated in my new digs, and life (as it is) is returning slowly to normal.
That hasn't been the only problem though that has been preventing me from writing on a regular basis. I've also been dealing with an overall lack of inspiration when it comes to spouting off on nerdy topics. I still love all of my nerd interests like comics, sci-fi, books and what not. I just haven't felt overly compelled to discuss anything in the nerd world for a while.
That is, until I saw this pic.
That there is Andrew Garfield in his Spidey costume for the brand new Spider-man film that is being made right now. Those of you who know me know that growing up, Spider-man was my end-all-ba-all favorite superhero. He was the first superhero whose comics I started reading as a kid, and he continued to be my favorite character to read until J. Michael Straczynski completely destroyed his origins and Marvel decided to end his marriage to Mary Jane.
Even still though, Spider-man has always been my favorite hero, because deep down he was just like me. He's a geek. He's a science nerd who through random luck is given these amazing powers that he uses to basically fulfill every nerd's dreams of doing awesome and heroic things and saving gorgeous damsels in distress. Therefore, to me, anything Spider-man movie related is important news. While I liked the first two Spidey films that Sam Raimi made well enough, it was clear by the third film that the franchise had lost it's way. When word of a new Spider-man reboot came down the line, I was suddenly both elated and scared.
I was elated at the prospect of never having to see another Emo Peter Parker dance sequence, but I was scared that somehow, something entirely worse would be made. Hollywood definitely loves to screw over sacred nerd properties, and Spidey is one of the best loved characters of all time. Screwing him up would be super easy to do. Over the past few months I've sat quietly, and I've waited. Occasionally, I would receive word of casting announcements and plot details things like that, and all of them worried me. The guy they cast as Peter looks like a total Twilight wannabe with douchey hair. The story would be high school centric, to get the attention of the same Twilight fan crowd. Things were not looking good for the new Spider-man movie in my brain, and I was getting ready to hate it on site.
And then I saw this picture.
I'm actually really happy with it. The costume is simple. It is sufficiently changed from the last film's costume to be different, but it still captures the look and feel of the comic costume. The guy playing peter is skinny, almost scrawny, just like Peter should be. I never liked in the previous films how Spider-man was shown with an almost body builder style body. Yes, his hair is a bit mangy, but you know what, classic 70's Spider-man had that sort of shaggy haircut. This is pretty much what Peter looked like in high school. Overall, I'd have to say that I was very happy with this pic after my first viewing of it.
On my second viewing though, I noticed something.
Look at the inside of Spider-man's wrists. Is it just me, or are those web-shooters built into his costume?
Oh . . . my . . . fucking . . . god!!!
If those are actual, hand-made web shooters that Peter Parker has to build over the course of the movie, then this new Spider-man film just surpassed all other film incarnations of Spider-man that have come before it. If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, this has just become in my mind the best Spider-man movie that has ever been made. I don't even need to see the film to know this to be true. If Peter Parker has to build his web shooters in this new film, it's already won me over as a huge fan.
My single biggest complaint about the last Spider-man films were his organic web shooters. I always hated the idea that Peter suddenly had glands in his arms that produced web fluids. The idea creeped me out, plus I thought it took away an important part of who Peter Parker is as a character. He's a scientist. He builds things. That's who he is. He's the kid who was tinkering with chemical lab playsets in his bedroom as he was growing up. He probably dabbled in child robotics kits and built models and learned how to build all sorts of useless gadgets, just because he loved to test and play with new things.
Giving Peter Parker organic web shooters robbed him of what should have been a character defining moment in the origin story of Spider-man. Peter's building of the original web shooters is a landmark moment for him. Using a home chemistry set, he invents something brand new, that no one else in the world has created before. He could probably sell his formula for his webs to a chemical company for millions of dollars, but he doesn't. Instead, he then builds mechanical devices to use his new chemical compound in a way that ultimately help others. It's the decision of a hero to use all of his powers, be they powers given to him by a radioactive spider or the powers of his own intellect, for the benefit of others.
I am now crossing my fingers and hoping beyond hope that what I think I'm seeing is true. Please Hollywood, don't let me down . . . again.
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