First Look at the New Spider-Man

January 13th, 2011 | POSTED BY Benjamin Nason

Today Sony Pictures gave the world and Spider-Man fans their first look at actor Andrew Garfield in the iconic costume. Last week, the website Just Jared posted behind the scenes pics of Andrew in Peter Parker attire with Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey. Of course, all these lead to the question: what do you think?  The weight of such a question only seems made that way by the fact that the previous Spider-Man trilogy of films ended in 2007, just four years ago, and here we are with another reboot. Of course, there are a great deal of people—the studio most importantly—that remember a similar situation with another iconic comic book hero not too long ago. Batman and Robin hit theaters in 1997, only to have the franchise rebooted (a word that now pertains to every other Hollywood project in development) seven years later with the surprise box office hit Batman Begins. And so Hollywood is hoping they can do the same with Spidey. Even the casting with more well-known actors, the newer director in Marc Webb, and the advertisement campaign, with leaked photos, and now an official one, are almost mirroring the actions taken for Batman Begins.

Having said that, I can tell you, I myself am hesitant yet optimistic about the potential this next Spider-Man film can bring. I like the going back to basics approach, Peter Parker in school, Gwen Stacey instead of Mary Jane as his first girlfriend, and even Dr. Curt Connors as the villain the Lizard.

I don’t like the idea of it being in 3-D, and I’m slightly reserved about the director; however, going with someone who’s popular for a romantic comedy is not far off base for a correlation to the comic’s best years, when romantic comic book artist John Romita Sr. joined the series in the late 60’s.

Now that we’ve seen some of the physical look that will make this new Spider-Man venture a reality, I’m even a little more hopeful, even excited.

The Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey pics make the characters look like they should; they also make them look in sync with modern styles while keeping the original visual aesthetics. The costume, to me, looks good. I like the fact that it’s not beefed up—to that matter, that Andrew Garfield is not beefed up. There are no padded fake muscles, it’s more sleek and streamlined, more realistic. Though I still wonder how a poor kid living in Queens would come up with that outfit, that’s merely being nit-picky. Which, if I were to do a little more of, I could say the flair with the red on his arms down by his wrists is maybe a little much, reminiscent of the overdone style applied to Optimus Prime by Michael Bay in Transformers. However, I really like the tone this picture implies. It’s nighttime, so it’s dark, and Peter looks fresh from the fight with those scratches across his face. And, in true Peter Parker style, he looks weighed down, tormented by the choices that are his life. It’s a very good image to release to give the public an idea of what to expect. In so doing, they have heightened my interest. I look forward to seeing more of what the film is going to look like as it takes more shape.

Anderw Garfield, Emma Stone, Gwen Stacey, John Romita Sr., Marc Webb, Michael Bay, Optimus Prime, Peter Parker, Sam Raimi, Spider-Man, Transformers