[OT] Spider Man origin modernizations - effective?

[Caliban]

I liked the updated origins. It seemed to me that they combined elements of the Spiderman 2099 origin with the original Spiderman origin in the move.

Spiderman 2099 was part of the short lived "Marvel 2099" line of comics that took place a hundred years in the future of the marvel universe. In that one, the new spiderman was a corporate scientist who accidentally merged his genetic code with that of a spider. He developed organic webshooters at his wrists, tiny claws on his fingers, retractable fangs with poison, and light sensitive eyes.

The movie seems to be using the organic webshooters and the tiny claw-hairs. (Although how they work through his shoes I don't know.)

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I was fine with the orgin updates, though it wouldn't of bothered me if it had been a radioactive spider becuase we're talking comic books so what the heck.

The organic web shooters didn't detract from the movie, but I also didn't feel they were needed. In an age of powered exo-skeletons, genetic engeneering, hover boards etc. one super genious kid developing web shooters doesn't bother me. I always viewed spidey as a hero who could almost be a tony stark, or not to far from a Reed Richards if he wasn't so busy running around being spidey, so web shooters we're fine by me.

By the way the movie rocked. And I'm glad they kept spidey morally like spidey, they didn't feel the need to modernize him into spidey the punisher or some other violence sells plan.

 

[Umbran]

I have not yet seen the movie, but I think the point about making the origins match with the current technological boogeymen is a good one. Part of the underlying moral - that we do not fully control our creations, and that they have both good and ill results, leaning towards the good - is better done with advancing it to today's technobabble, rather than yesteryear's.

Oh, by the way - the organic web shooters even have the approval stamp of Stan Lee himself. If he thinks it was a good idea for the movie, how much can we really gripe?

There was always a problem with the mechanical web-shooters. It takes a genius to create such a device, and to create the chemical webbing. But, in the end, is Peter parker generally written as a scientific or engineering genius? No. He has that one flash of brilliance, and it's pretty much never used again. He's bright, but not a super-scientist. This gets around that one inconsistency.

 

[Painfully]

On organic webshooters...okay, I can believe it, but don't spiders shoot webbing out near their rear ends?

 

[Green Knight]

Yeah, I thought the organic web-shooters were worlds better than the mechanical web-shooters. I remember getting the Spider-Man 2099 comics and thinking how great that idea was, having organic web-shooters. Hell, he's got all these OTHER powers. Why not have one more? I much rather having him rely solely on his powers, rather than having to augment himself with a device when he should, by rights, have that power (How can you be a "spider man" and not make webbing?). Like you pointed out, he gets this flash of insight and creates the web-shooters, then after that, nothing. He never invents anything else like that, again.

Then there's the upkeep of his webshooters. Peter Parker's a poor guy. How does he NOT run out of money, leaving himself unable to afford the chemicals to make more web-fluid? If you like the idea of his shooters out of webfluid, then they could just say "His body can only produce so much webbing at a time, so he needs time to recuperate when he uses to much". Personally I like it the way they have it. I don't like the mechanical webshooters, having seen something better in Spider-Man 2099, and I never liked the whole "I'm out of web fluid" bit.

And Peter Parker is NOT a Tony Stark or a Reed Richards or even close to them. He's smart, but those 2 are unnaturally smart. (Damn, that sounded stupid) What I mean is, they were so smart it was BS. Peter was smart, but within the realm of reality. That's what I liked about him. Sure, he had powers, but Peter Parker himself isn't outlandish the way Reed Richards is, with an intellect of god-like proportions. I could really see a Peter Parker type in real life, sans the spider powers. Whereas Reed Richards I can't see existing in reality.

 

[Staffan]

Like you pointed out, he gets this flash of insight and creates the web-shooters, then after that, nothing. He never invents anything else like that, again.

He also builds spider-tracers that somehow resonate with his spider-sense, allowing him to track people from a distance.

 

[Sulimo]

Hmmmm? Could you please explain?

OK. Here's the details. Admittedly, it comes by way of AICN so take it with a bag of salt. And whilst I exaggerated a little, I dont really like this origin (compared to the original).

Hulk Script Spoilers
Monday, April 22, 2002 7:24 CDT

AICN had an informant check in with a sneak peek at the script of "The Hulk". Turn back now if you're avoiding spoilers!

Main characters:

Bruce Banner, son of David Banner. Betty Ross, her father General Ross. Someone named Kurlensky?

David Banner was a radiation scientist who passed some kind of gamma ray contamination onto his son Bruce. There are scenes in flashback of David and Mrs. Banner testing the baby to see iif he is contaminated, scenes of the kid crawling funny and dveloping weirdly. Then at some point David Banner stabs the mother, and the baby Bruce reacts but doesn't seem to "Hulk out" (this is how the document describes the transformation.) Other tidbits:

David Banner is the Absorbing Man in this, and only transforms at the end, from what I can gather. Both the Absorbing Man and the Hulk are stuck in a frozen lake at what point.

Think this is the real deal? If so, it's a big departure from the comics! Stay tuned for more info.

 

[Black Omega]

I can't complain about the organic webshooters. Really, the idea of the shooters being mechanical was a plot device for the time. Sometimes he ran out or they jammed and that created a plot complication.

 

[Golem Joe]

I always felt the key to spider-man's origins lay in the death of Peter Parker's Uncle, and his careless role in it. The fact that actions have consequences and that sort of thing. Whether the spider that bit him is radioactive, genetically engineered, or a B-movie monster escaped from the Warner Bros. studio, does it really make a difference? I mean, who really cares what the spider was on???

Can't say anything for Osborn, because I never read any of the green goblin issues of the comic.

Isn't anyone complaining that it should have been Gwen Stacey thrown from that bridge? Now THAT was an important change! The death of the leading lady would have given the ending voice over MUCH more impact, IMHO.

 

[Florin]

I liked the organic webshooters. They made SO much more sense than mechanical ones. One thing I was surprised about, though, was that they make the point of saying twice, that some spiders can change color to camoflauge themselves, and they didn't have anyone pull a chameleon act. Although, I think that was more of an abstract reference to his costume and how it allowed him to maintain his anonymity and still maintain a normal life.

As for MJ not dying, I think that will end up being a good thing, especially how at the end she seemed to have suddenly put two and two together and figured out just who Spider-Man was. Did anyone else think that they seriously set the end up for a sequal?