Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero
film based on the fictional Marvel
Comics characterSpider-Man.
The first installment in the Spider-Man series, the film,
directed by Sam Raimi and
written by David Koepp,
stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, and Willem Dafoe.
The film begins with Peter
Parker, a high school student, being bitten by a genetically
altered spider. After misusing
his newly-given abilities, which indirectly causes the death of his Uncle Ben, he becomes the
heroic Spider-Man. Peter hopes to win the heart of Mary
Jane Watson, the girl he has loved since he was a boy.
Meanwhile, he must battle the villainous Green Goblin, the
alter ego of the father of his best friend, Harry Osborn.
After being stuck
in development hell for nearly 25 years, the film was released on May 3, 2002, by Columbia Pictures, to excellent reviews and a record-breaking opening weekend. With $821.71 million worldwide, it was 2002's third-highest-grossing film and is the 21st-highest-grossing film of all time. Spider-Man was, for its time, the most successful film based on a comic book. The film's success has led to three sequels, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 4 is set to be released worldwide on May 4, 2011. Spider-Man 3, like Spider-Man, would set a new record for opening-weekend gross.
Creation and development
In 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Leewas casting about for a new superhero idea. He said that the idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in teenage demand for comic books, and the desire to create a character with whom teens could identify.[3]:1 In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazinecrime fighter The Spider as a great influence,[4]:130 and in a multitude of print and video interviews, Lee stated he was further inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall---adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true.[note 1] Looking back on the creation of Spider-Man, 1990s Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco stated he did not believe that Spider-Man would have been given a chance in today's comics world, where new characters are vetted with test audiences and marketers.[3]:9 At that time, however, Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the character's approval.[3]:9 In a 1986 interview, Lee described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodman's objections.[note 2] Goodman eventually agreed to let Lee try out Spider-Man in the upcoming final issue of the canceled science-fiction and supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy, which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for that single issue, #15 (August 1962).[5]:95
Comics historian Greg Theakston says that Lee, after receiving Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept, approached artist Jack Kirby. Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him super-human powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference" and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages. Steve Ditko would be the inker.[note 3]When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly -- it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".[6]:12 Lee turned to Ditko, who developed a visual style Lee found satisfactory. Ditko recalled:
| “ | "One of the first things I did was to work up a costume. A vital, visual part of the character. I had to know how he looked ... before I did any breakdowns. For example: A clinging power so he wouldn't have hard shoes or boots, a hidden wrist-shooter versus a web gun and holster, etc. ... I wasn't sure Stan would like the idea of covering the character's face but I did it because it hid an obviously boyish face. It would also add mystery to the character...."[7]DevelopmentAlthough Sony Pictures acquired the "Cameron material" from MGM/UA, in April 1999 the studio announced they were not hiring James Cameron himself to direct the film.[18] The studio lined up Roland Emmerich, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus, and David Fincher as potential directors. Fincher did not want to depict the origin story, pitching the film as being based on The Night Gwen Stacy Died storyline, but the studio disagreed.[8] Sam Raimi was attached to direct in January 2000,[19] for a summer 2001 release.[20] He had been a big fan of the comic book during his youth, and his passion for Spider-Man earned him the job.[21] Cameron's "scriptment" became the basis of David Koepp's first-draft screenplay, often word for word.[22] Cameron's versions of the Marvel villains Electro and Sandman remained the antagonists. Koepp's rewrite substituted the Green Goblin as the primary antagonist and addedDoctor Octopus as a secondary villain.[23] Raimi felt the Green Goblin and the surrogate father-son theme between Norman Osborn and Peter Parker would be more interesting.[24] In June, Columbia hired Scott Rosenberg to rewrite of Koepp's material. Remaining a constant in all the rewrites was the "organic webshooter" idea from the Cameron "scriptment".[25] Raimi felt he would stretch the audience's suspension of disbelief too far to have Peter invent mechanical webshooters.[5] Rosenberg removed Doctor Octopus and created several new action sequences.[26] Raimi felt adding a third origin story would make the film too complex. Sequences removed from the final film had Spider-Man protecting Fargas, the wheelchair-using Oscorp executive from the Goblin, and Spider-Man defusing a hostage situation on a train.[8] As production neared, producer Laura Ziskin hired her husband, award-winning writerAlvin Sargent, to polish the dialogue, primarily between Peter and Mary Jane.[27] Columbia offered David Koepp's name to the WGA as sole screenwriter, despite the fact that it had acquired Cameron's script and hired two subsequent writers. Without reading and comparing any of the material, the Writers Guild approved sole credit to Koepp.[22] [edit]FilmingWith Spider-Man cast, filming was set to begin the following November in New York City and on Sony soundstages. The film was set for release a year later,[3] but when the film was postponed to be released on May 3, 2002,[28] filming officially began on January 8, 2001[27] in Culver City. Sony's Stage 29 was used for Peter's Forest Hills home, and Stage 27 was used for the wrestling sequence where Peter takes on Bonesaw McGraw (Randy Savage). Stage 27 was also used for the complex Times Square sequence where Spider-Man and the Goblin battle for the first time, where a three-story set with a breakaway balcony piece was built. The scene also required shooting in Downey, California.[29] On March 6,[30] 45-year-old construction worker Tim Holcombe was killed when a forklift modified as a construction crane crashed into a construction basket that he was in. The following court case led to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health to fine Sony $58,805.[31] In Los Angeles, locations included the Natural History Museum (for the Columbia University lab where Peter is bitten and receives his powers), the Pacific Electricity Building (the Daily Bugle offices) and Greystone Mansion (for the interiors of Norman Osborn's home). In April, some of the Spider-Man costumes were stolen, and Sony put up a $25,000 reward, although they were never returned.[32] Production moved to New York City for two weeks, taking in locations such as the Queensboro Bridge, the exterior of Columbia University's Low Library, the Flatiron Building, the outside of the New York Public Library, and a rooftop garden in the Rockefeller Center.[29] The crew returned to Los Angeles where production and filming ended in June.[27]
A bite from a radioactive spider on a school field trip causes a variety of changes in the body of Peter Parker and gives him superpowers.[32] In the original Lee-Ditko stories, Spider-Man has the ability to cling to walls, superhuman strength, a sixth sense ("spider-sense") that alerts him to danger, perfect balance and equilibrium, as well as superhuman speed and agility. Some of his comic series have him shooting webs from his wrists.[32] Brilliant, Parker excels in applied science, chemistry and physics. The character was originally conceived by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as intellectually gifted, but not a genius. However, later writers have depicted the character as a genius.[33] With his talents, he sews his own costume to conceal his identity, and constructs many devices that complement his powers, most notably mechanical web-shooters.[32](This mechanism ejects an advanced adhesive, releasing web-fluid in a variety of configurations, including a single rope-like strand to swing from, a net to bind enemies, a single strand for yanking opponents into objects, strands for whipping foreign objects at enemies, and a simple glob to foul machinery or blind an opponent. He can also weave the web material into simple forms like a shield, a spherical protection or hemispherical barrier, a club, or a hang-glider wing.) Other equipment include spider-tracers (spider-shaped adhesive homing beacons keyed to his own spider-sense), a light beacon which can either be used as a flashlight or project a "Spider-Signal" design, and a specially modified camera that can take pictures automatically. |
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