Fans worried that his upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man will re-tread familiar origin territory need not fret, says director Marc Webb in an interview today with MTV. His take on the origins of Peter Parker’s spectacular spider-powers will be a significant departure from the ground covered in Sam Raimi’s 2002 original film. In fact, Webb reveals, the origin story will even span multiple installments.
“I wanted to give the audience something new,” Webb tells the outlet, “so that started off with getting underneath the parents’ story, which will unfold over probably a few movies. We don’t totally wrap up that story in this first movie. It’s sort of an ongoing mystery.”
The parents, Richard and Mary Parker (played by Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz), have never appeared on the big screen in the past, but have been depicted in various comics as young lovers, research scientists and even CIA operatives with ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. How their arc plays out in Webb’s iteration of the wallcrawler remains to be seen.
It’s not just the focus on the parents that sets aside the story of the new film, though. Webb says that we won’t be seeing some famous Spider-Man origin scenes, including the wrestling match that, in “Amazing Fantasy” #15, marked the first public display of Peter’s newfound powers.
“[There are] obligations to the canon,” Webb explains, “in terms of Uncle Ben and the spider-bite, but the conditions under which those things happen are very different… The character is evolving in a different way. It’s about finding a balance between iconic elements of the ‘Spider-Man’ mythology like how Uncle Ben’s death transforms him emotionally but it happens in a different way.”
Webb even teases some changes that — if Michael Bay’s alien take on Ninja Turtles is any indication — could have fans arguing for some time.
“He’s bitten by a spider,” Webb says, “but maybe it’s not a radioactive spider. Or maybe it is! You’ll have to see.”
Also starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen and Sally Field, The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters on July 3rd.
