No matter how many heroes and how many comic-book movies come and go, few characters will reach the same heights as The Amazing Spider-Man. A joint creation by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spidey has been entertaining readers and audiences since 1962, when he first appeared in issue number 15 of the Amazing Fantasy comic. Lately, it has been Spider-Man’s movies that have packed theaters, dating back to Sam Raimi’s initial stab at a Sony origin story in 2002. Recently, I published a book entitled With Great Power: How Spider-Man Conquered Hollywood During the Golden Age of Comic Book Blockbusters. And as part of the research for that novel (which you can order right here), I uncovered a number of amazing behind-the-scenes stories, which I’d like to share in celebration of the live-action Spider-Man movies returning to theaters, starting today.
My book traces Spider-Man’s Hollywood history back to the television drama The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Nicholas Hammond. In addition to teaching Hollywood types how the wallcrawler could look and move in live-action, Hammond’s show gave fans one of their first looks at Spider-Man’s signature costume in live action. Needless to say, it left a few things to be desired. As I charted the history of Spider-Man for my book, I noted lessons that previous production companies had learned and then applied to their movie. Because by the time it came to Sam Raimi making Spider-Man for Sony, there were a lot of problems he had to solve, and none of the answers came easily.
Anyone can wear the Spider-Man mask, though, because unlike a hero such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Hulk, or Doctor Strange, you can’t see Spider-Man’s face. It protects his secret identity… and makes it VERY hard for an actor to give a performance.