I thought they had signed up James Vanderbilt, the writer of Zodiac to do Spidey 4, what happened with that?

Well, Mario Puzo wrote Superman, and look how good that worked out.

But really, has anyone considered the possibility of getting someone who knows about the character to write these movies?

Mario Puzo’s Superman was very camp. It went through hoardes of rewrites iirc.

Hey, while we’re talking about the comic book films that sucked and need to regain some serious mojo, how come I haven’t seen anything on Newsarama about Mark Millar’s talking to Empire about his pitch for Superman?

I’m not sure what I think about it, aside from Millar stupidly giving away his ending, but it’s sure to get people talking!

Well not to take away from the Smallville duo…but barely anything was kept from their draft for Spidey 2. In their script it had Doc Ock be a college classmate of Spidey’s who had a crush on MJ.

It also featured Black Cat.

I think Chabon had the largest influence on the film script

@ Brian: I didn’t know that about the Smallville guys… Wow, I guess I’m glad most of their script didn’t get used (Doc Ock as a classmate of Peter’s?)! I wouldn’t have minded some Black Cat, but I wonder how she would’ve fit into the story?

Considering how effective Spidey 2 was, it surprises me that they went in a totally different direction with #3. It made money, somehow, but I think they’re in for a backlash on #4 unless they really try to redeem themselves. “Batman & Robin” anyone?

Bud you’re an idiot. The Venom storyline in the comics was as deep or angaging as any other story. The fact that Venom became a posterboy for 90′s excess doesn’t change the fact that his origin and first appearances were just as good as any classic Spider-Man villain. The movie blew it with Venom. Not the other way round.

“I wouldn’t have minded some Black Cat, but I wonder how she would’ve fit into the story?”

From what I understand, she was the landlord’s daughter.

“ow come I haven’t seen anything on Newsarama about Mark Millar’s talking to Empire about his pitch for Superman?”

I’m guessing it’s because they’ve covered it every other time he’s hyped his Superman pitch, and they’ve finally realized that he’s never going to get the job because his ideas are terrible and he’s a bad writer.

Also, I assume that the fact that Millar literally gives away the ending of his trilogy means that even he realizes it is never ever going to get made.

Spider-man comics are full of rich stories and there are more great tales to tell. I can only be optimistic and hope that the new movie will be better than the last one. So let’s just hope for the best.

@ Seandell: The landlord’s daughter? Wow… That’s even worse than Doc Ock as a classmate of Peter’s. Good thing the script went through a few more rewrites!

Good point about the Millar stuff… I just thought it was interesting that he’s still trying to pitch his concept, and that he went so far as to lay it all out like he did. I think some of the ideas have merit – and you can’t say it isn’t ambitious – but it would certainly have its share of problems too. Especially that ending.

I’m indifferent about Millar as a writer, but I think his love for Superman is sincere. Then again, I think Bryan Singer’s love for the character (at least the Donner version) was sincere too… But that didn’t result in a good movie from him and his writers.

This doesn’t mean absolutely anything. 90% of all Hollywood movie scripts are a work of art. Most of them just happen to get ripped to shreds and drastically altered through Director’s visions and the writers that those directors chose to bring to make rewrites on set. I’ve rarely ever read a bad script in my job.

“Ain’t no such thing as COMIC writers. There are just writers. And they write good works and bad works.

Generally, a good writer writers more good works than bad.”

That’s like saying there ain’t no such thing as poets. Or playwrights. There sure as hell IS such a thing as a comic writer. The craft of writing a comic versus that of writing a prose piece is a VERY different thing altogether. The pacing and structure are fundamentally different. Those who are good at their craft tend to cause you not to notice those details.

I’m sure that at this point in the debate this is a moot point; but as a writer it was one which really called out to me.

I am not sure that they should get comic writers to write a comic movie. Writing for a comic book and writing for a movie is two very different things. Sure, you are telling a story in both cases, but you have to pace the story differently, and develop characters in different ways. The next best alternative is to get a screen writer who is interested in comic books, like Dave Goyer who wrote Batman Begins. After that, at least get someone who will pick up the material and read a good chunk of it before beginning to work on the script.