Dark_Lord
Dark Lord of the Sith
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Sorry if this has been posted. Didnt see it:
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/736/736956p1.html
October 3, 2006 - Peter Parker may have taken out the twisted Green Goblin, and saved his girl by defeating the maniacal, multi-tentacled Doc Ock, but you know there's more drama in store for everybody's favorite web-slinging superhero! Just what evil lurks in Spider-Man's future? Check it out, true believers...
The much anticipated release of Spider-Man 3 is now just over six months away. And in spite of all the early hype for this third installment in the Webslinger film franchise, there are still many things we don't know.
We thought it'd be cool to attempt to fill in some of the story's blanks and dig a little deeper into the flick's compelling villains. These musings of ours are mostly based on conversations that we've had with the cast and filmmakers, as well as previously released info.
"I think we've kept it kind of fresh and new," says star Tobey Maguire, "but keeping a continuity of character and evolving the storyline from the first and second movie and coming to some conclusions and stuff. I think we've done that pretty well." Maguire is tight-lipped when pressed for more details, but we already know the broad strokes of the film's story from the official plot synopsis. Here's a look:
Peter Parker has finally managed to strike a balance between his devotion to M.J. and his duties as a superhero. But there is a storm brewing on the horizon. As Spider-Man basks in the public's adulation for his accomplishments and he is pursued by Gwen Stacy, who rivals M.J. for his affections, Peter becomes overconfident and starts to neglect the people who care about him most. His newfound self-assuredness is jeopardized when he faces the battle of his life against two of the most feared villains ever, whose unparalleled power and thirst for retribution threaten Peter and everyone he loves.
You likely already know that those "most feared villains" are Venom and Sandman, played by Topher Grace and Thomas Haden Church respectively.
Director Sam Raimi says he chose those two bad guys because they align with the development of Peter Parker in the film. "We had to really figure out where it was that the character [of Peter Parker] had to grow to in this particular story," he says. "What situation was Peter left in at the end of the second story and what did he have to learn? What lessons? And once we figured that out, we had to figure out what character might best represent the obstacles that he had to overcome to learn that lesson; or the obstacles may overcome him in case he failed to learn the lesson. Then we would search for the villain that would best represent that obstacle. That's how we went about choosing the villains for this piece. And because it was a journey more inward than external - for instance, the first two pictures were more about the things that happened to Peter, but this is more of Peter's journey inside into a darker part of himself. And his struggle to find the heroic side of himself to break free of that darkness, break free of that temptation. We felt that the character of Venom, who Avi Arad the president of Marvel Comics said the kids really loved anyways, would probably be a good match for us."
Eddie Brock becomes Venom in Spider-Man 3
Fans of the comic will be familiar with Venom's extraterrestrial origins -- the black suit is actually a living alien symbiote. But how does that all play out in the "real world" of the Spider-Man movie universe? "That was a major struggle for me, the production designer, the costumers, the cameramen, and the actor," says director Sam Raimi. "What we did was we said, 'At his heart he's Eddie Brock -- he is a human being.' The strength of these movies have always been the human beings at its center. Not about something fantastic. It's more about a regular guy which something extraordinary happens to. And Venom is an extraordinary character. So that was a struggle. We just tried to find the human elements within him that we could connect to and really play those up and diminish, downplay the fantastic."
Based on Raimi's approach, we think it's unlikely that Venom will have any kind of alien origin in the film. Our best guess is that Harry Osborn is ultimately responsible for the rise of Venom in this story. We imagine that Harry intentionally exposes Peter/Spider-Man to "the suit," which could be some kind of genetically engineered protoplasm (comic fans: think Ultimate Venom) created by Oscorp, in an attempt to avenge his father's death.
Peter is taken over by the black material -- it coats his Spidey suit -- and it begins to negatively impact his mental state. Ultimately, he is able to free himself from the substance while inside a bell tower (we're guessing that's because it is vulnerable to sonic bombardment as in the comics). The black material then finds a new host in Eddie Brock, Jr., who becomes Venom.
Brock/Venom is played by actor Topher Grace, who has successfully made the jump from TV to big-screen stardom.
Grace tells us that Spidey was a bit of a switch from the kind of films he's used to making. "It's certainly different for me because I've never been in a film of this scope," he explains. "But the way Sam works with his actors is very similar to the way I've done other films. He takes really good care of the actors. You can see in a film like this where the director might pay more attention to the effects, but I feel like it was really a great collaborative experience. You know Tobey's great and Kirsten... they've done so many of these. It's great to kind of come in and guest star on a hit show."
So, how does Sandman figure into all this? Much less is known. Actor Thomas Haden Church believes the film version of the character has more depth than the comic character. He explains that Sandman's issues, whatever they may be, have brought him into conflict with Peter Parker. "He's a guy with a mission," says Church. "And clearly he's a villain so his interests and Spider-Man's interests are probably going to collide in an unpleasant way. I wouldn't be a villain in the movie if I didn't have a problem that Spider-Man is going to have to deal with."
Set photos that have surfaced online show Church, as Sandman's human form, Flint Marko, filming what we're certain is a flashback scene in which he interacts with Peter's Uncle Ben and the carjacker in the original Spider-Man. What kinda stuff was Uncle Ben mixed up in? Your guess is as good as ours on that one.
We also know that Flint has a wife (played by Theresa Russell) and a daughter in the film, which makes us wonder if Raimi will present him as a sympathetic villain; perhaps he has to turn to a life of crime to save his family.
Thomas Haden Church as Sandman
But just where do Sandman's powers come from? In the classic comic mythology, Flint escapes from prison and takes refuge on a beach; unfortunately, the beach is contaminated and he is exposed to radiation. Flint's cells merge with the irradiated sand, giving him the ability to transform his body into sand and mold it at will.
If Raimi again draws from the Ultimate universe, as we believe he may for Venom's origin, it's possible that Flint becomes Sandman after being subjected to a failed experiment designed to create a super soldier.
We'd like to put another scenario out there... Could it be that Harry Osborn is somehow responsible for the creation of Venom and Sandman? Think about it. As the heir to Oscorp, Harry is now a wealthy industrialist with the resources of a major scientific mega-corporation at his disposal; he would have easy access to the technology that could create both Venom and Sandman. Regardless, Harry also plays the role of villain himself. Raimi has publicly stated that the third film will wrap up Harry's character arc, but he has declined to say whether or not the younger Osborn will ultimately follow in his father's footsteps.
If you've watched the trailer you've probably noticed the scene in which a masked man flies a glider exactly like the one that Harry discovered in his father's lair at the end of the second film. Are you tracking with us? And at Comic-Con 2006 Sam Raimi made it clear that Harry will not appear as the second coming of the Green Goblin or as Hobgoblin, but that there would be elements of both introduced into his character. Will he be redeemed in the end or meet the same fate as his pops? We'll have to wait and see.
We're pretty confident in our boy's odds, but how exactly will Spider-Man dispense with multiple adversaries? It's entirely possibly that Raimi could pull a page from the Marvel universe and pit them against each other to narrow the field in the end. Comic aficionados will remember the fight between Venom and Sandman in which Venom takes a bit out of Sandman and destabilizes his body structure, causing him to crumble. Not matter how it plays out, the finale should be a battle royale! That's a pretty safe bet.
The safest bet of all is that we'll get the answers to these questions and more when Spider-Man 3 swings into theaters on May 4, 2007!
So, now that we've shared our thoughts on the Spidey 3 villains and their possible origins and motivations, why don't you give it a shot. We'll feature the best responses in the next edition of the IGN Movies Mailbag.
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/736/736956p1.html
Nice interview from Sam and the cast there. Wouldn't take much into Oscorp creating Venom, the article seemed to be throwing out ideas.
