Superheroes Who Needed A Reboot

No. 2: Spider-Man

Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man was last seen in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) and while Andrew Garfield was arguably the best thing about the whole series, he was let down by bad writing and awful direction.

I still enjoy the Sam Raimi Spider-Man series, but I just wish it was Andrew Garfield instead of Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker because Director Marc Webb’s  take tries too hard to be different and original and ultimately it’s what killed the franchise.

Firstly, there is too much focus on Peter Parker, as great as he is we want him to put on his red outfit to go and fight crime. The whole film felt like a romantic comedy that focuses more on the relationship with Gwen and Peter that setting up the villain.

The subplot of Peter Parker’s parents is boring – it spanned over the two movies and all that it tells us is that Oscorp is responsible for their deaths, so naturally you would think Norman Osborne (aka The Green Goblin) would know something about this.

The main problem with this film is the villains, initially the idea of Electro is brilliant, he idolizes Spider-Man but becomes jealous when the media sees them squaring off in Times Square where he is portrayed as the villain.  He turns evil too quickly with no real character development. He’s gone from shy office-working man to super villain in five seconds.

This bring me to the next issue: Harry Osborne.  He is meant to be the cool to Peter Parker’s nerd. Sadly, he seems more like a spoiled little brat with expensive suits and the same illness that killed his father. The only cure, ironically, is in Spider-man’s blood. When denied, he gets evil very quickly, killing Gwen Stacey in the process and again showing no real character development. I suggest Marc Webb take some lessons from Breaking Bad.

Spider-Man will next be seen in Captain America: Civil War (2016), played by Tom Holland; who is only 19 and largely unknown; but who has already starred in some big movies such as The Impossible (2012).

Sometimes a fresh face is what you need and after checking out Tom’s instagram page that kid is quite the gymnast - so he brings those skills to the part.  By the time the as yet untitled Spider-Man reboot (2017) is released, Tom will have already starred with Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, so he should have that famous Avengers chemistry down by then.