Back in 2002, comic book movies were not as common place as they are today. 20th Century Fox had just released Bryan Singer’s X-Men two years earlier and Sony had just launched the Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man to much critical acclaim. Original writer David Koepp (Jurassic Park) would not return for its sequels Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, but he does have some ideas on how to save the franchise after the disappointing return on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Sony’s lack of direction on the series.

“If I were in charge of Spider-Man right now, and money was no object, I would…(Pauses) Well, now you can see why they are having trouble! (Laughs) Not so easy, is it,” he told Empire Online. “When I was doing Spider-Man the first time, I remember distinctly having thoughts about three movies, each of a different kind. The way the comic-book lines switched, it was Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man… there were a number of them. So rather than try to pursue the same course, or any kind of similar tone, you’d have strikingly different tones. The classic Spider-Man, that would be the top-of-the-line, studio Sam Raimi ones, then the Amazing Spider-Man ones, they’d be done for $75-80 million, and have a rougher, edgier, almost R-rated feel to them, though I don’t think they could ever bring themselves to do that. Tougher, nastier, a rougher look… shorter movies. I don’t like superhero bloat, personally.”

“And these series didn’t have to be consecutive, they could be released concurrently,” he continues. “Then I also thought there should be a Spectacular Spider-Man series, because Spider-Man leaves out a large group of its audience. Little kids are fascinated by Spider-Man by the time they are three, or younger. But when I was a kid, I loved the animated series, so I always thought there should be separate lines to cater for different ages of Spider-Man fans. And I’d certainly develop other characters in the Spider-Man universe, which is what they are trying to do, I know. Black Cat deserves her own movie series.”

Koepp also gave his thoughts on comic book movies today, “as for the superhero genre generally now, I am stunned at its viability, its quality, its longevity, and its ability to grow and deepen,” he said. “I think they’re great. I was so continually wrong about where superhero movies were going that now I am just an audience member, thrilled to see them continue to improve.”

What do you make of Koepp’s thoughts on the Spider-Man franchise?

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