Spidey’s new Webb master
When the producers of “The Amazing SpiderMan” were scouring Hollywood for the right person to take over for a reboot of the franchise, they first looked for a big name.
But they quickly arrived at a newcomer (and Spidey fan) with the perfect name: Marc Webb.
The video and commercial director, though, had exactly one feature film on his resume, and an indie romantic comedy, “(500) Days of Summer,” at that.
“It was intimidating, because of the movies that came before,” says Webb. “But then you start to think, ‘What’s the access point to the story?’ I was just overwhelmed by curiosity.”
It was Webb’s access point that eventually won the day. His pitch: Put Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) back in high school and make his growing pains in and out of the costume feel like an indie drama inside an action movie.
“Peter is a kid who hasn’t figured it all out. And that’s why I wanted to put him back in high school,” says Webb. “He’s not dialed in, not making right decisions. He’s figuring out his path.”
Producer Matt Tolmach says entrusting a big-budget, effectsheavy film to a relative rookie wasn’t as huge a leap as it seems.
“‘(500) Days of Summer’ was about genuine emotional relationships — and we knew we wanted to start there,” says Tolmach.
Audiences will be able to see the final results Tuesday, when “The Amazing Spider-Man” opens.
Fortunately, the franchise is in the hands of a comics buff. Webb, who says he used to hit Capital City Comics every week in his hometown of Madison, Wis., to get his regular fix of superhero adventures, is protective of the Marvel brand — and the man behind the mask.
“I was a big fan of Spider-Man, but in a way I was a bigger fan of Peter Parker,” Webb says, “because when [fans] read the comics, he felt like you.”