May 3, 2002

Spider-Man Fans Celebrate Sam Raimi's First Marvel Movie on Its 19th Anniversary

Marvel Studios Celebrates The Movies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpxoFcdORI

Spider-Man Official Trailer (2002) 

From Jake Smith

Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, a high-school student who turns to crime fighting after developing spider-like powers. Spider-Man also stars Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn (a.k.a. the Green Goblin), Kirsten Dunst as Peter's love interest Mary Jane Watson, and James Franco as his best friend Harry Osborn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYMMOjBUPMM

By CAMERON BONOMOLO - May 3, 2021 03:05 pm EDT

Sam Raimi took Marvel moviegoers for the ultimate spin when Spider-Man swung into theaters 19 years ago on May 3, 2002. After the success of live-action Marvel Comics adaptations Blade and X-Men in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sony Pictures took the modern comic book blockbuster to the next level when Spider-Man webbed up the third-biggest global box office of 2002 ($821 million) — behind only The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($936m) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($878m) — before spawning a Raimi-directed trilogy with 2004's Spider-Man 2 and 2007's Spider-Man 3.

Spider-Man shattered box office records to become the first film in history to earn more than $100 million in its opening weekend, a feat that took heavy-hitters Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone five days to accomplish in 1999 and 2001, respectively. The film ended its theatrical run as the highest-grossing domestic earner of 2002 ($403m) and was the highest-grossing superhero film of all time worldwide until its own record was passed by Spider-Man 3 five years later.

Inspired by the Marvel comics created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man sees mild-mannered high-school student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) become the web-shooting, wall-crawling Spider-Man when he's bitten by a genetically-altered spider. Guilt-ridden over the death of his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), Spider-Man vows to use his amazing abilities to fight crime and thwart the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) as he comes to understand "with great power comes great responsibility."

"With Sam Raimi leading the way, I feel like I'm in good hands, and I feel pretty safe about that," Maguire told MTV in a 2001 interview before starting production on Spider-Man. "I've read the comics, and we're going to honor the comics and at the same time make our own movie."

Raimi, at the time best known for his much lower-budgeted horror films The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, was a lifelong fan of the Spider-Man character — who would be making his live-action debut after planned films from Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and later James Cameron (The Terminator) failed to crawl out of development hell. It was only after Marvel sold the character's screen rights to Sony for a fee of $7 million that Spider-Man began to take shape with Raimi directing from a script by David Koepp (Jurassic Park).

"I feel like there's a great bar of expectation that I have to meet," Raimi said in 2001. "It better be damn good. That's all I'm thinking, and that's what occupies all of my waking hours and all of my sleepless nights. 'Is it good enough? Is it right for the character?' All I can do is what makes the character work for me and what I was attracted to when I read the comic books and try and bring that to the big screen in the Spider-Man movie and hope that appeals to everyone else."

Here's how Spider-Man fans are celebrating the film's 19th anniversary:

My Gift, My Curse

19 years ago Spider-Man was released in theaters. pic.twitter.com/PuCafVZ0lO

— Furlow7 (@Furlow71) May 3, 2021

Who Am I? I'm Spider-Man

19 years ago Sam Raimi's Spider-Man was released in theaters on this day #Marvel #SamRaimi #Spiderman pic.twitter.com/yIvdshLrHn

— Matthew Carrizal 🇲🇽🇺🇸 (@MatthewCarrizal) May 3, 2021

19 years ago, spider-man (2002) served pic.twitter.com/jgMZibJGYr

— grant ✪ (@mcufile) May 3, 2021

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man came out 19 years ago today pic.twitter.com/uhLrTmcGG3

— Marvel Tesseract (@Mar_Tesseract) May 3, 2021

We Are Who We Choose to Be

19 Years ago today Spider-Man (2002) was released in theaters. this film means so much to me because it was the movie that made me who I am today. it made a Spider-Man fan

I want to thank Raimi and the cast for the amazing memories#19Years pic.twitter.com/OBDxwvez1M

— Raimi Spider-Man Fan (@FanRaimi) May 3, 2021

19 years ago today, #SpiderMan was released and it cemented the future for comic book movies pic.twitter.com/eOCNEkI5y4

— WorldClassBS (@TheWorldClassBS) May 3, 2021

The Spider-Man Saga

'Spider-Man' premiered 19 years ago today on May 3, 2002. Since then, there have been 7 more Spider-Man movies! pic.twitter.com/Toim8cPUi3

— Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) May 3, 2021

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/spider-man-2002-19th-anniversary-sam-raimi-marvel-movie-fans-birthday/#6

SPIDER-MAN 2 Trailer (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s9Yln0YwCw

July 02, 2004 Spider-Man 2

17 Years Ago One Of The Greatest Comic Book Films Of All Time Was Released Starring Tobey Maguire And Kirsten Dunst ! Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 ! #SpiderMan2 #SpiderMan

Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst stars in Spider-Man 2 

KinoCheck International :

Official Spider-Man 2 Movie Trailer 2004 | Subscribe ➤ http://abo.yt/ki | Tobey Maguire Movie Trailer | Available now on Digital, Blu-Ray and DVD | More https://KinoCheck.com/film/pbh/spider...

Peter Parker can't seem to catch any kind of break. Being Spider-Man has brought him nothing but problems as far as his personal life is concerned. Not only that, Mary Jane Watson is engaged to astronaut John Jameson, and Peter may lose her forever. Things are so bad for him that he is pushed past his breaking point, so he decides that he doesn't want to be a super hero anymore, until a freak accident transforms Dr. Otto Octavius into Dr. Octopus, a super-villain with four metal tentacles protruding from his torso. Peter realizes that only Spider-Man can stop him but, of course, problems arise. Mary Jane gets caught in the middle, and Harry Osborn, who still blames the web-slinger for the death of his father Norman Osborn, also the Green Goblin, wants him dead. Spider-Man will have to push himself past his limits if he's going to survive.

Spider-Man 2 (2004) is the new action movie starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco.

Spider-man 3 (2007) - Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPosLpgMtTY 

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment :

Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man™ 3 reunites the cast and filmmakers from the first two blockbuster adventures for a web of secrets, vengeance, love, and forgiveness that will transport worldwide audiences to thrilling new heights on May 4, 2007. In Spider-Man™ 3, based on the legendary Marvel Comics series, 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. When his suit suddenly changes, turning jet-black and enhancing his powers, it transforms Peter as well, bringing out the dark, vengeful side of his personality that he is struggling to control. Under the influence of the suit, Peter becomes overconfident and starts to neglect the people who care about him most. Forced to choose between the seductive power of the new suit and the compassionate hero he used to be, Peter must overcome his personal demons as two of the most-feared villains yet, Sandman and Venom, gather unparalleled power and a thirst for retribution to threaten Peter and everyone he loves. © 2007 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | MARVEL, and all Marvel characters including the Spider-Man, Sandman and Venom characters ™ & © 2013 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

May 6, 2011 : Spider-Man 4 Would Be Celebrating A 10 Year Anniversary Today

The Untold Story of Sam Raimi's Cancelled Spider-Man 4 | Cutshort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usx2TizyV1Y

Today would mark the ten-year anniversary of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 releasing in theaters - if the movie hadn't fallen apart in the production process. By now the story of Spider-Man 4's fall is infamous - but for those who don't know, here's a recap of that bit of comic book history: After Spider-Man 3 hits theaters in 2007, Sony immediately went to work on developing Spider-Man 4 in 2008, for release in 2011, with rumors stating plans for Spider-Man 5 (and possibly a whole second trilogy) were also in the wings (those production plans have since been refuted by Raimi). Zodiac writer James Vanderbilt was handling the script, and Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and the other trilogy actors were coming back - with some exciting new additions, as well.

🕯 Light a candle for Tobey as today marks 10 years since what would have been🕯RIP #SpiderMan4 🕯 pic.twitter.com/vy5Vug023n

— ComicBook.com (@ComicBook) May 6, 2021

Marvel fans probably remember that John Malkovich was circling a role as Vulture in Spider-Man 4. There were also rumors that Bruce Campbell (who did various cameos in the Spider-Man films) would get a villain role as Quentin Beck/Mysterio, and Dylan Baker (who played Peter Parker's teacher/mentor Dr. Curt Connors) would get play out his arc of becoming The Lizard. It was later confirmed that Anne Hathaway was considering joining the franchise as Felicia Hardy, before she ironically ended up play Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. There was some backlash from fans when it was leaked that Hathaway's Felicia Hardy would become "Vulturess," instead of her comic book alter-ego of Black Cat; however, according to Raimi Black Cat was always the end goal. Concept art released in the mid-2010s also revealed a Sinister Six-type scenario for Spider-Man 4, with Spider-Man fighting no less than Mysterio, The Shocker, The Prowler, Rhino - with even Stilt-Man on the table as a possibility.

So why did Spider-Man 4 ultimately fall apart? Here's what Sam Raimi has said in the past:

"It really was the most amicable and undramatic of breakups: It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn't get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work. I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the best Spider-Man of them all," Raimi told Vulture in 2013. "But I couldn't get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, 'I don't want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn't make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you've been planning anyway.' And [Sony co-chairman] Amy Pascal said, 'Thank you. Thank you for not wasting the studio's money, and I appreciate your candor.' So we left on the best of terms, both of us trying to do the best thing for fans, the good name of Spider-Man, and Sony Studios."

Ultimately, what would have been Spider-Man 4's release became the launch of Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man reboot. Unfortunately, that "fresh start" stalled after two films - but all of those struggles ultimately led us to the brighter days of Tom Holland taking on the role, and Marvel Studios taking the reigns of the Spider-Man films.

R.I.P. Spider-Man 4, we'll always wonder what could've been. Until then, fans are holding out hope that Tobey Maguire is going to show up as Spider-Man again, in Marvel's Spider-Man: No Way Home. That film hits theaters on December 17th.

https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/spider-man-4-ten-year-anniversary-explained-fan-reactions/