Spider-Man – Sam Raimi (2002)
Netflix suggested “Spider-Man”. I was surprised that Netflix would have a Marvel film, since all the other have to rented from Amazon Prime. Then I noticed that in the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” other Spider-Man films are listed, but the first is “Spider-Man: Homecoming” only from 2017 (in “phase 3”).
So have Spider-Man films been made outside Marvel? Not really, since “Spider-Man”, “Spider-Man 2” (2004) en “Spider-Man 3” (2007), all by Sam Raimi and with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and Kirsten Dunst as his girlfriend are Marvels, but apparently ‘stand alone’.
This old film is quite ‘teen’. Peter Parker is a nerdy college student who is bullied by his school mates and who’s pretty neighbor girl (Mary Jane, played by Dunst) does not see him. When he gets bitten by a genetically modified spider at school, he turns into a spider-man over night.
After getting used to his new abilities, Spider-Man becomes a vigilante, but of course there is also powerful opponent in the form of “Green Goblin” (Willem Dafoe) who created a bit of an Iron Man type fighting suit.
“Spider-Man” is not the spectacle of later Marvel films. You can se that two decades ago the audience was targeted differently. More teen romance, less American moralism, but with fighting and special effects.
