In 1992, James Cameron was at the helm of what would be the first Spider-Man film, but even the man who would go on to bring us behemoths Titanic and Avatar was no match for the Spidey curse.
Clashes with Marvel execs squished Cameron’s spider wish, but not before the director had put a good amount of work into the doomed flick. Luckily, as the Toronto Star wrote earlier, Cameron’s storyboards are online, giving us a look at what could have been.
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To be fair, Cameron’s storyline is not a drastic reach from Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man. But it is edgier. Cameron’s Peter Parker steals, kills a criminal (albeit accidentally) and not only does he kiss love interest Mary Jane, he has sex with her. On top of the Brooklyn Bridge. [Marvel is extremely protective of their staple characters as is DC, so the thought of Spidey having sex on screen must have been a huge red flag –ed]
Cameron’s Spidey also has to face his intense rage issues after the murder of his Uncle Ben. He must learn to restrain his rage or risk becoming an eruptive brute. (And that wouldn’t be very friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, now would it?)
Cameron chose Electro and the Sandman as the film’s villains, who acted together as some sort of super power-wielding men’s fraternity that’s tapping Spider-Man for brotherhood.
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Who knows, if Cameron would have gotten his way, perhaps we’d be seeing Spider-Man 4 in 3D this year.
Would you rather Cameron’s version been made than Raimi’s?