Caffeinated Clint
And talks to Marvel’s Avi Arad at the screening
While fans of the hit TV series ‘Heroes’ in the US wait with bated breath to see never-before-seen footage of one of this summer’s more anticipated blockbusters, a select group of us were invited to see 6 minutes of additional footage of the multi-million third installment of the franchise.
Introduced by the always dapper Sam Raimi, scenes unspooled include a tender romantic moment between Peter and Mary Jane snuggling in a gargantuan spider web, it is implied at this point that Peter decides to pop the question though it remains unclear if all the scenes we saw were in sequence.
We see Peter talk marriage proposal to his Aunt who offers her own precious engagement ring and worldly advice. Then the love struck Peter is suddenly ambushed on his bike by Harry dressed in a costume that suggests Green Goblin but is he that villainous character? Only time will tell but rest assured this scene looks stunning and it appears as if this third Spidey may be the best yet. Just ask producer Avi Arad who is not ruling out a fourth Spider-Man and beyond. He spoke to our Los Angeles correspondent Paul Fischer.
What are the risks or challenges in doing a third Spider-Man?
Avi: Well, I think when you have the same team, the same cast, the same director, the same producers, the same writer, it gives you an opportunity to dig deeper. Everybody can dig deeper. Some story, some content, CGI. We have this something at the end of every movie � although these movies were incredibly successful, we sit and we think �What can we do better?� and so you�re getting that. The opportunities are just to make a more complex – beating up Peter Parker harder. that�s the whole idea. And see if he can take it, if he is indeed still a hero. And this movie is really testing every bone, every emotion, every intellectual thing in his head. So I think we really have something that surpassed 1 and 2. For us at least. Some of us feel that this is the biggest of them all.
The trailer revealed that Sandman is supposed to be the real killer of Uncle Ben. How does that change or alter Peter�s motivation for doing what he�s doing since it was all like this sort of guilt. Like he didn�t catch his uncle�s killer kind of thing. If he didn�t actually play a direct role in what happened to his uncle that kind of alters why he is Spiderman.
Avi: Well I think that when you look at movie 1 and 2 and I think the thing that defined Peter�s life is the death of Uncle Ben. And his own reaction to powers as a kid, you know, he didn�t think about stopping a robber, he was thinking about making some dough so he can get a car and get Mary Jane. Which is normal. That�s what makes Peter Parker so accessible and so loveable for ever and ever. Stan wrote a kid who is typical. So we stopped his life and it was a mistake that defined the rest of his life. If you�ll remember in movie 1 he tried to stop the man who then fell to his death, which was another tough moment in his life, realising that once you take the law into your own hands, not completely, but there are always consequences to everything you do. Sandman is a fascinating villain for us and actually sand made him far more fascinating than in the books. I mean, it�s pretty limited, an interest effect. He was a goon. We pride ourselves in connecting our villains to our hero. We find a way to do it and in this story, again without going too far into it, because everything I say will end up somewhere, so we gave Sandman a real good story, made him an interesting villain, like all our villains � they�re victims of circumstances in some ways. This movie is about Peter dealing with a dark side and the dark side comes out of issues. And Sandman is one of the issues.
Do you see this as a fitting conclusion to the franchise?
Avi: No. There are never conclusions. I mean, this story has been going on for a long time and it will continue going. I mean there are some issues that will turn into, not to an end but to a conclusion, but Peter Parker�s story will continue forever. He�s still young. Still the love story will always be the ruling thing in his life. It�s always about the girl, so no, it�s just number 3.
Are you astonished at how far between all the three films, special effects and computer generation have come. I mean, do you see a leap in technology �?
Avi: Yes. I think it�s more than just technology. I think you have a team here and also I think Sam who are into this world of technology but this movie, unlike movies that, you�ve CGI doing them, physical effects, special effects, CGI � there are so many processes in this particular battle that you just saw. It�s not one thing. At the same time, again, it�s very fortunate to us that Sony and SBI is one company and there is a lot of confidence in this franchise, as it should be. So everybody here is pushing themselves. There�s no great artists in effects, physical effects, miniatures, you name it, who doesn�t want to work on this movie. And these people pride themselves on pushing the envelope and doing it better than they did it before or when new people came on board, as you know, animators today � they are just amazing what they have in their hands and we are the beneficiaries.
Variety a couple of weeks ago reported that David Koepp was in talks with the studio about doing Spidey 4 � about writing it. Can you say how far along those talks are or is he definitely going to be writing it?
Avi: I think it would be great if he does but it�s too early to make �.
