Nearly a quarter of a century after Nicholas Hammond , who played one of the children in the film version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, played Stan Lee’s web-slinging legend of a comic book character in the popular 1970s TV series – and amidst lots of speculation about who would make it (The Cannon Group in a version directed by Albert Pyun (Van Damme’s CYBORG) / James Cameron), EVIL DEAD / DARKMAN director Sam Raimi took over the reins and created one of the best original stories in the Marvel Universe prior to the AVENGERS series of films.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is a high-school student in New York who is wimpish and is the target of the school bullies, as well as having a major crush on next door neighbour Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).
Whilst on a field trip to a genetics laboratory, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider and discovers he has acquired unusual powers inherent in arachnids. Peter’s best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco) comes from a scientist family background, with his father Norman Osborn trying to use a new drug which has tremendous side effects, which transform him after a test goes wrong into the evil Goblin…..
Encapsulating the essence of what makes a true comic book character work with a wonderful mix of humour and grounded-ness, this version of SPIDER-MAN fulfils what the fans desire.