I am always fascinated by films that seem like they shouldn’t exist. Whether it’s because they don’t fit within the paradigm of their genre, they are bizarre fan projects somehow shepherded by major studios (Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming Aliens sequel, Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns), or they just seem too amazing to be real. Today’s news falls into the latter category, as it has been announced that wunderkinds Phil Lord and Chris Miller are going to be spearheading an animated Spider-Man feature film for Sony. They are attached to write the treatment and produce with the possibility still looming that they could direct (pleaseohpleaseohplease) for a July 2018 release date.
This sounds like the best possible incarnation of the character we could ever get outside of the comics (the current holder of that title is the unfairly cancelled television show The Spectacular Spider-Man). Lord and Miller are pretty much untouchable at this point, and their specific brand of humor meshes perfectly with Spidey’s smart-assery. Plus, animation is the perfect venue to let some of the more ridiculous aspects of Spidey’s rogues gallery really cut loose (will we finally get the gonzo Mysterio illusions I’ve wanted for so long?).
The press release that came out clarifies that this film will not tie into the live-action MCU incarnation of the ol’ webhead, set to make his debut in Captain America v Iron Man: Rise of the Civil War, and that’s all fine by me. I’m excited to see different versions of a character on screen, allowing the respective filmmakers to focus on different facets of Peter Parker.
Is it too much to ask that this film be more traditionally 2D animated? I know they won’t go the route that I want (cel animation, I miss you so), but a less CGI approach would tickle me even more pink than I already am about this news.
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