So far, fans have been introduced to several Spider-Men, and everyone has their favorites. Preferences about one’s favorite Spider-Man vary depending on when an actor was introduced as the superhero. But what about those who never saw the day of light? Before Sam Raimi, James Cameron has planned a Spider-Man movie with the Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Cameron worked on it for years under Stan Lee’s guidance.
But Marvel was not always as big as it is now, and getting a superhero film off the ground was not easy. Although his plans never turned into a Spider-Man film, the director had a different vision for the web-slinging superhero, and he shared it in his book, Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron.
James Cameron’s Vision For Spider-Man
Marvel was not always as big as it is now. The first live-action adaptation following the Marvel character Howard the Duck was released in 1986. The film bombed and was titled the Worst Picture. Given the poor performance of the film, it was not easy even for James Cameron to move ahead with a film following a Marvel character.
However, he continued working on his film under Stan Lee’s guidance and wanted Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. And the Titanic director did not want to follow the same old method for his Spider-Man film. During his interview with ScreenCrush, Cameron shared that his Spider-Man “would have been very different.”
He stated that he consulted Stan Lee before outlining the concept for the film and did not do anything without his permission. The Avatar director also shared that he wanted to make something with a “gritty reality” to it.
He said, “The first thing you’ve got to get your mind around is it’s not Spider-Man.” He further emphasized how he is a “Spider-Kid,” who is kind of geeky, socially unpopular, and invisible to almost everyone.
The Alien director claimed that he wanted to make it in a way that would represent the real struggles of being a superhero. He wanted to portray Peter Parker’s physical changes, his emotional struggle, and his attempts at hiding his real identity from the world.
Spider-Man’s Struggle With His Costume
The 2002 film introduced Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man. After getting bitten by the radioactive spider, he makes a suit to simply hide his identity when he enters the wrestling competition. Later in the film, he designs his own costume and makes it himself. However, the film does not further focuses on the issues with his costume.
James Cameron also wanted to focus on Spider-Man’s struggle regarding his costume and how he came up with a design that turned out terrible. So he keeps on working to improve the costume, but it continues to be one of his biggest problems.
“I wanted it to be: It’s New York. It’s now. A guy gets bitten by a spider. He turns into this kid with these powers, and he has this fantasy of being Spider-Man, and he makes this suit, and it’s terrible, and then he has to improve the suit, and his big problem is the damn suit.”
He shared that he wanted to “ground it in the universal human experience.” The comic book issues of Spider-Man also feature him repairing his costume after it gets damaged during his combat. Unfortunately, James Cameron lost the opportunity to work on a Spider-Man film after Marvel sold the rights for a Spider-Man film to a low-budget studio, Cannon Films.
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: ScreenCrush
