Marvel fans looking for hints about what direction Marvel Studios and Sony's new Spider-Man film might want to look toward several recent comic series. In an interview with Den of Geek, Spider-Man director Jon Watts mentioned several Spider-Man comics he recently read while preparing for the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, including Brian Bendis's Ultimate Spider-Man series and Sean McKeever's underrated Spider-Man Love Mary Jane teen series. Both Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane feature Peter Parker's adventures in high school, which lines up with the planned direction of the new Spider-Man films. Watts also mentioned the classic Archie comics as a possible inspiration for his upcoming movie.

So what do all those comics have in common? Both Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane focus heavily on Peter Parker dealing with relationship drama, unsteady friendships and other high school drama in addition to his extracirricular life as a superhero. Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane treats Spider-Man and Peter Parker as totally different characters, with very few hints that the two are one and the same. Watts specifically described Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane as "the soap opera of Peter Parker in high school". Both Spider-Man series and the Archie comics also have a sense of humor, balancing teenage melodrama with plenty of goofy bits.

Tom Holland will play Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man will first appear in next summer's Captain America: Civil War. Watt's Spider-Man film comes out July 17, 2018. To see a full schedule of upcoming comic book movies, be sure to visit our Movie Release Schedule, complete with Marvel Studios' recent movie announcements.

(via Den of Geek)