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starwolf_oakleySaturday, the YouTube presentation of Andrew Garfield's appearance at the San Diego Comic Con and some thoughts about lackluster response to the Green Lantern movie gave me a sudden epiphany about Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man.
We want Peter Parker to be Barry Allen, not Hal Jordan.
It started with J. Michael Strazynski, and the idea that the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker *chose* him to be a Spider-Totem. The radiation killed the spider and affected Peter's blood, but that was more of an unwanted side-effect.
This became very important in stories involving Ezekiel, Morlun and various insect or arachnid monsters. Peter being bullied was also important to why he was chosen, somehow. (In comic books, getting bullied will either make you a hero or a villain, a 50/50 chance worthy of Harvey Dent.) Fans were skeptical, although the issues sold well.
The problem with the Spider-Totem idea that I never realized until Saturday? Getting chosen as a Spider-Totem turns Peter Parker into Hal Jordan (chosen by a magic ring because he's special) instead of Barry Allen (victim of random chance who makes the choice to be a good guy).
We don't want Peter Parker to be Hal Jordan, except that's who Marvel is trying to turn Peter into. From "Brand New Day" onwards, Peter has suddenly developed Hal's "heartbreaker" reputation. Here's hoping Peter's next girlfriend isn't really a teenage-looking alien who is really over 200 years old... unless that was Marcy Kane's deal. (http://marvel.wikia.com/Kaina_%28Earth-616%29)
Creators know Peter Parker should be Barry Allen. In the Spider-Girl series by Tom DeFalco, Peter became a police scientist after retiring as Spider-Man. True, Barry never had a massive guilt complex to drive him into heroism, but Peter wouldn't go "Spider fact!" every few minutes. But both men used their scientific minds *and* their powers to great effect, while attempting to balance a normal life in the big city.
Hey, here's Andrew Garfield himself to explain the importance of Spider-Man.
Could Andrew Garfield be talking about Hal Jordan or Barry Allen?
If anyone at Warner Bros. has a similar "flash" of insight, maybe The Flash can be made into a Spider-Man-esque movie that will work in a way Green Lantern didn't. And, just to be clear, I *liked* the Green Lantern movie. Maybe it would have worked better as the first 13-episode season of an HBO series, but on HBO series a lot of... "hanky panky" is expected from the audience.
Some more legal images:
We want Peter Parker to be Barry Allen, not Hal Jordan.
It started with J. Michael Strazynski, and the idea that the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker *chose* him to be a Spider-Totem. The radiation killed the spider and affected Peter's blood, but that was more of an unwanted side-effect.
This became very important in stories involving Ezekiel, Morlun and various insect or arachnid monsters. Peter being bullied was also important to why he was chosen, somehow. (In comic books, getting bullied will either make you a hero or a villain, a 50/50 chance worthy of Harvey Dent.) Fans were skeptical, although the issues sold well.
The problem with the Spider-Totem idea that I never realized until Saturday? Getting chosen as a Spider-Totem turns Peter Parker into Hal Jordan (chosen by a magic ring because he's special) instead of Barry Allen (victim of random chance who makes the choice to be a good guy).
We don't want Peter Parker to be Hal Jordan, except that's who Marvel is trying to turn Peter into. From "Brand New Day" onwards, Peter has suddenly developed Hal's "heartbreaker" reputation. Here's hoping Peter's next girlfriend isn't really a teenage-looking alien who is really over 200 years old... unless that was Marcy Kane's deal. (http://marvel.wikia.com/Kaina_%28Earth-616%29)
Creators know Peter Parker should be Barry Allen. In the Spider-Girl series by Tom DeFalco, Peter became a police scientist after retiring as Spider-Man. True, Barry never had a massive guilt complex to drive him into heroism, but Peter wouldn't go "Spider fact!" every few minutes. But both men used their scientific minds *and* their powers to great effect, while attempting to balance a normal life in the big city.
Hey, here's Andrew Garfield himself to explain the importance of Spider-Man.
Could Andrew Garfield be talking about Hal Jordan or Barry Allen?
If anyone at Warner Bros. has a similar "flash" of insight, maybe The Flash can be made into a Spider-Man-esque movie that will work in a way Green Lantern didn't. And, just to be clear, I *liked* the Green Lantern movie. Maybe it would have worked better as the first 13-episode season of an HBO series, but on HBO series a lot of... "hanky panky" is expected from the audience.
Some more legal images:
