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The Adventures of Young Spider-Man
Recently, two disparate thoughts have been hanging around in my head.
First, I remembered the 'Bruce Wayne' pitch. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the concept for 'Bruce Wayne' was that we follow a young Bruce Wayne before he becomes Batman. Starting at age 17, we see him travel the world, picking up the skills which will eventually help him become the mentally unstable Caped Crusader we all know and love.
Thinking about the concept, I'm intrigued by the possibility of interspersing clips of the 'current' age 17 Bruce Wayne with clips of Bruce as a child. Comic books place Bruce as between ages 6 and 10 when his parents are murdered; how interesting would it be to see a morbid, seven year old Bruce interact with other kids his own age? Would he be as dark, brooding and focused? Or is he just messed up? It would have been pretty interesting if done correctly.
Part of the problem is, I'm not sure how long the show would last. Unless someone could craft a very engaging version of young Bruce, while still playing with the Batman mythology, the show would likely end up a licensed version of 'Relic Hunter' (sorry for invoking 'Relic Hunter', all).
The other thing that's been floating around my head is the now canceled 'SPIDER-M4N' movie. Also known as 'Spider-Man 4', it would have taken place immediately after the relatively disappointing 'Spider-Man 3'. The buzz says that the reason is because nobody can decide on a villain for the movie. After SM3, and the studio shoe-horned appearance of Venom, I can't blame them. Rumors have pinned John Malcovich as The Vulture and Rachel McAdams as Black Cat (which would have been amazing, by the way, as a white-haired McAdams as Felicia would have caused insane nerd infatuation). Apparently director Sam Raimi isn't into that, though, so the movie's on hold. Oh well; if it was going to be anything like SM3, it's probably for the best.
Well.
Tonight, sitting on my couch, the two ideas sort of came together, and I realized: why is there not a Spider-Man TV show?
Hear me out on this. Spider-Man is, at it's best, a 'slice of life' as Peter Parker. Yes, he's got superpowers, and yeah, he has an amazing rogues gallery (one of the best in comics). But he also has a very rich personal life, and enough strong, developed supporting characters to make this a possibility.
Technology and CGI is advancing at such a rate that shows which would have once been impossible are now very much within the realm of possibility. I mean, if we can have a reboot of 'Battlestar Galactica' that looks really good, we can probably figure something out for Spider-Man. Heck, if The CW can afford to make a Superman show, why not?
What I would do is, focus on a teenage Peter Parker. Introduce him as a senior in High School, struggling to get good grades, make a curfew, and also foil a bank robbery perpetrated by a guy with a foggy fishbowl on his head. Something where Spider-Man is an important element, but it isn't THE element.
I'm hesitant to use the old 'It's _____ meets ______', and I'm even more hesitant to invoke 'The OC', but I'd say the show would do well as a 'The OC meets Smallville'. Focus on Peter's life, his relationship with his classmates, and his non-existent relationship with Mary Jane. Watch as his friend Harry's dad gets a little creepy, and starts acting strange. How does it affect their friendship, especially if one of them finds out about Norman/the Goblin? What happens when Peter graduates, and wants to go to college? When did he first start freelancing for The Daily Bugle? What 'Spider-Man 1' did over the course of a single movie, we could explore as a television show. There were some very interesting parts in the first movie, like Peter showing up late for dinner because he was off as Spider-Man, or his silent confrontations with Norman Osborne outside of costume. Let's explore that more.
Of course, villains are definitely present. It's the Spider-Man universe, of course, but Spider-Man as viewed through Peter's eyes. He can't be under the mask all the time, so what's it like to be Spider-Man out of costume? Now THAT would be a TV show. Let's ignore further sequels; find someone who could play a good Peter Parker, and let's get rolling on a TV show. Sell it to ABC and stick it in the slot 'Lost' will leave behind soon.
It's a formula for millions, so let's get on it! Sony already relinquished the rights to a TV version of Spider-Man, so with a little convincing, it might not be too hard to get Marvel on board.
Just let me help write the show when you get it going.
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First, I remembered the 'Bruce Wayne' pitch. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the concept for 'Bruce Wayne' was that we follow a young Bruce Wayne before he becomes Batman. Starting at age 17, we see him travel the world, picking up the skills which will eventually help him become the mentally unstable Caped Crusader we all know and love.
Thinking about the concept, I'm intrigued by the possibility of interspersing clips of the 'current' age 17 Bruce Wayne with clips of Bruce as a child. Comic books place Bruce as between ages 6 and 10 when his parents are murdered; how interesting would it be to see a morbid, seven year old Bruce interact with other kids his own age? Would he be as dark, brooding and focused? Or is he just messed up? It would have been pretty interesting if done correctly.
Part of the problem is, I'm not sure how long the show would last. Unless someone could craft a very engaging version of young Bruce, while still playing with the Batman mythology, the show would likely end up a licensed version of 'Relic Hunter' (sorry for invoking 'Relic Hunter', all).
The other thing that's been floating around my head is the now canceled 'SPIDER-M4N' movie. Also known as 'Spider-Man 4', it would have taken place immediately after the relatively disappointing 'Spider-Man 3'. The buzz says that the reason is because nobody can decide on a villain for the movie. After SM3, and the studio shoe-horned appearance of Venom, I can't blame them. Rumors have pinned John Malcovich as The Vulture and Rachel McAdams as Black Cat (which would have been amazing, by the way, as a white-haired McAdams as Felicia would have caused insane nerd infatuation). Apparently director Sam Raimi isn't into that, though, so the movie's on hold. Oh well; if it was going to be anything like SM3, it's probably for the best.
Well.
Tonight, sitting on my couch, the two ideas sort of came together, and I realized: why is there not a Spider-Man TV show?
Hear me out on this. Spider-Man is, at it's best, a 'slice of life' as Peter Parker. Yes, he's got superpowers, and yeah, he has an amazing rogues gallery (one of the best in comics). But he also has a very rich personal life, and enough strong, developed supporting characters to make this a possibility.
Technology and CGI is advancing at such a rate that shows which would have once been impossible are now very much within the realm of possibility. I mean, if we can have a reboot of 'Battlestar Galactica' that looks really good, we can probably figure something out for Spider-Man. Heck, if The CW can afford to make a Superman show, why not?
What I would do is, focus on a teenage Peter Parker. Introduce him as a senior in High School, struggling to get good grades, make a curfew, and also foil a bank robbery perpetrated by a guy with a foggy fishbowl on his head. Something where Spider-Man is an important element, but it isn't THE element.
I'm hesitant to use the old 'It's _____ meets ______', and I'm even more hesitant to invoke 'The OC', but I'd say the show would do well as a 'The OC meets Smallville'. Focus on Peter's life, his relationship with his classmates, and his non-existent relationship with Mary Jane. Watch as his friend Harry's dad gets a little creepy, and starts acting strange. How does it affect their friendship, especially if one of them finds out about Norman/the Goblin? What happens when Peter graduates, and wants to go to college? When did he first start freelancing for The Daily Bugle? What 'Spider-Man 1' did over the course of a single movie, we could explore as a television show. There were some very interesting parts in the first movie, like Peter showing up late for dinner because he was off as Spider-Man, or his silent confrontations with Norman Osborne outside of costume. Let's explore that more.
Of course, villains are definitely present. It's the Spider-Man universe, of course, but Spider-Man as viewed through Peter's eyes. He can't be under the mask all the time, so what's it like to be Spider-Man out of costume? Now THAT would be a TV show. Let's ignore further sequels; find someone who could play a good Peter Parker, and let's get rolling on a TV show. Sell it to ABC and stick it in the slot 'Lost' will leave behind soon.
It's a formula for millions, so let's get on it! Sony already relinquished the rights to a TV version of Spider-Man, so with a little convincing, it might not be too hard to get Marvel on board.
Just let me help write the show when you get it going.
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