Spider-Man movie by James Cameron

[seredynskib]

Even though this isn't a silver age book, I thought it would be fun to share with my fellow SA collectors.

 

I recently purchased and read an ASM 361 and came across this major movie announcement from 1991 that never came to be:

 

[jaybuck43]

You've never read the -script? It's a shame the movie was never made. I loved Cameron's description of Peter:

Peter's parents were killed in a plane crash when he was six. He woke up one day without a family. Somehow he always felt guilty that they went away. As if he had done something wrong. His 17 year old mind tells him it was just fate, just a random accident... but deep in his subconscious that scared 6 year old still cries, begging for them to come home... he won't cause trouble anymore...

 

he'll go to bed when they tell him.

 

Uprooted, moved from the only home he knew, in Maryland, to Ben and May's modest bungalow in suburban Flushing, NY. It is a low to middle income boredom-zone of tract homes pushed too close together. Peter actually goes to high school in nearby Forest Hills, a snotty high-income neighborhood. This makes him a poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks in the eyes of his status conscious schoolmates.

 

Peter is a bright kid. He doesn't have many friends. He is ostracized for his interest in science. Our MTV culture frowns on people who think too much. Intellectual curiosity is decidedly un-hip. Who cares about where the universe came from or how the Greeks hammered Troy? Did you hear the new Pearl Jam album?

 

 

 

Peter is defiant. He thinks they are the real losers.

They'll be flipping burgers while he's discovering the

cure to cancer. We'll see who wins in the long run.

 

He wears his isolation like a badge... with an air of superiority. In fact, he is awesomely shy and desperately lonely and unhappy. But whenever this occurs to him, he loses himself in his studies, and finds a kind of peace.

 

He has the 17 year-old's sense that he knows everything

about the world, and can see so clearly all the things

that are wrong with it. In fact he is very insulated and knows almost nothing about human nature in all its

complexity. He doesn't even understand himself very well.

 

Because his life of the mind is his badge of superiority, he frowns on the pursuits of the body.

 

Sports? Forget it. Bunch of jock boneheads crashing into each other. Like stag elk in rut. Senseless violence.

Girls? Good in theory, but how do you talk to them?

Dancing? No way. He tried it once. Not a pretty sight.

 

Peter is a virgin. And apt to remain that way for a

while. He's your basic sexually pent-up adolescent.

One other thing about Peter. He is a plucky kid. He's

got true grit. He's never had an opportunity to prove

this, to himself or anyone else. But he will soon...

 

[seredynskib]

I never saw that before, thanks for sharing! Was there ever any info that leaked on the plot or villain for the movie or did it not get that far into production?

[VintageComics]

Stan Lee also announced a Silver Surfer movie back in the 1980's that never came to be.

[jaybuck43]

I have Cameron's scrip treatment . It was supposed to be Electro and Sandman, though Electro is not Max Dillion but rather "Carlton Strand" A super-powered industrialist. Basically he's Osborn.

[white_rushin]

I believe it was going to be James Cameron's follow up to Titanic. Leo Dicaprio was also going to play Peter Parker, which I think could've worked.

 

Michael Beihn was in line to play Electro.

[Straw-Man]

biehn was great as the cracking-up marine in the abyss. i love that flick.

[Gatsby77]

Yeah - I knew it was going to feature Leo as Peter. Would have been perfect casting, I think.

 

It's funny, Leo probably owes his career to River Phoenix, who I always thought would have been the best Peter Parker.

 

After Phoenix died, Leo replaced him in both Total Eclipse & The Basketball Diaries. And Cameron had originally wanted Phoenix for Titanic when he was first developing it back in '91.

 

[gadzukes]

Here's the Poster art for the Leo version.

 

http://www.comicscube.com/2012/07/remember-when-james-cameron-was.html

[white_rushin]

Phoenix and DiCaprio would've been battling for roles for sure. I believe that Leo would've still become very famous as he was already showing insane talent in Gilbert Grape.

 

I like him better for the Parker role than Phoenix, but both would've done a fantastic job.

 

I think best Peter Parker hands down could've been Michael J Fox or Zach Galligan from Gremlins, depending on which type of movie you're going with.

 

I mean Galligan looks identical to Romita's representation.