James Cameron Teases His Unmade ‘Spider-Man’ Movie

Before Sam Raimi finally got Spiderman Reaching the finish line in the summer of 2002, the iconic superhero spent decades languing in development hell, during which time the rights of various Hollywood studios were handed over when incarnated. Several filmmakers try to launch the project.

Perhaps the single most famous one is James Cameron’s 40-page treatise, which is widely available on the internet and utterly bizarre. There’s plenty of metaphors about heavy puberty, no shortage of profanities, and scenes of Peter Parker seducing Mary Jane Watson atop the Brooklyn Bridge after winning her over with detailed stories about the species’ mating rituals. Spider.

It’s all pretty weird, but in an interview with ScreenCrush, Cameron outlined his approach to Spiderman there would have been more grounded and gritty to the web-slinger leaning towards the humanity and duality of Peter’s struggle to be a hero.

“I wanted to do something that had a grim reality to it. Superheroes in general always appear to be something of a fantasy to me, and I wanted to make something more possible. destroyer and Alien, which you buy into practically immediately. So you’re in a real world, you’re not in some mythical Gotham city. Or everyday Superman and Planet and all that sort of thing, where it always feels very metaphorical and fairy tale-like. I want it to be: It’s New York.

Snow. A boy was bitten by a spider. He transforms into this kid with these powers and he has the fantasy of being Spider-Man, and he makes this suit and it’s horrible, and then he has to improve the suit, and the big deal His is the damn suit. Such things. I want to base it on reality and base it on common human experience. I thought it would be a fun movie to make. ”

• 

• MORE FROM THE WEB

Click to zoom

Cameron is reported to want Young Leonardo DiCaprio Becomes His Spider-Man, with frequent collaborator Arnold Schwarzenegger arguably the number one choice to play Doctor Octopus. Game-changing filmmaker working with those two in the mid-1990s Spiderman Blockbuster must be an appealing prospect, but instead, fans seem content with the movies they’re getting.