Spider-Man 3 had a difficult time in it’s developmental stages. Sam Raimi had his own ideas, but Sony also had theirs, and they clashed. The end result was mixed, to say the least.
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is based primarily off of the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run on The Amazing Spider-Man series from the 60s, and also the Stan Lee and John Romita Sr run of the 70s. Raimi translated iconic comic book illustrations, panels and characters from this era onto the big screen. Classic villains appeared such as the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and the Sandman…and Venom. Wait, Venom? But he was a character from the 90s. But that’s like Venom appearing in the Lee/Ditko Amazing Spider-Man run! Surely that wouldn’t work…
And so this is where the article begins. We’ll be taking a look primarily at Sam Raimi’s initial vision for this film, and how Sony essentially ruined what could’ve been another great film in the Spider-Man series.
Chapter 1: The Initial Story
First off, we’ll be travelling back to the early stages of development of Spider-Man 3. Soon after Spider-Man 2 was released, Ivan Raimi completed a draft for Spider-Man 3. Sam Raimi also had ideas about the sort of themes he wanted to explore, the most prominent being Peter believing he has somewhat no flaws, when in fact he obviously does, and that there’s still humanity in the criminals he faces. It would seem that the theme for this film would have been ‘humanity’ and ‘forgiveness’, as Raimi’s choice for main villain also reflects this; the Sandman.
Things initially seemed focused; the Raimis knew what they wanted, and it would seem what that actually was, was a film that focused on this complicated dynamic between the characters of Peter Parker and the Sandman.
Raimi also planned to conclude Harry’s arc in this film, which he did in the final product, but it seems to me that it was originally planned differently. Raimi stated that Harry wasn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps, but be ‘something between’. This is interesting – perhaps originally, Harry wasn’t going to become the New Goblin, but something more subtle, more subdued, more cunning? Perhaps Harry’s story would’ve intertwined with that of Peter and the Sandman, which would have been intriguing.
As development continued, Raimi wanted to also include the Vulture, whom Ben Kingsley was in talks to portray, but to me, it’s quite unclear as to how much the Vulture would have been featured.
So that is the basic idea of what Sam Raimi had originally planned for the film in the very early stages of production, and I like the sound of it. The film sounded like it had focus, and room to breathe and to tell what could have been a very complex, moral story. The possible dynamic between Peter, Harry, and the Sandman, all of whom, by now, had their own prominent flaws, would have been fascinating. I think, had Sony been satisfied with the initial plans, this film would have been a satisfying story.
But then came Sony’s input…
Chapter 2: Sony’s Demands
Sony weren’t satisfied with the script drafts by the Raimis; they wanted more. And we can pinpoint this moment in the films development as the spot where things began to get a little convoluted. Avi Arad, producer, wanted Venom in the film, in a bid to please fans. Raimi wasn’t convinced. He didn’t particularly like the character due to it’s lack of humanity, which was a theme of the film.
By this point, I imagine Raimi was getting very frustrated. This gory and loud villain from the 90s had intruded it’s way into his idea of a film about these complex characters. But that wasn’t all. The producers also wanted Raimi to shoehorn Gwen Stacy into the story. The film’s scriptwriter, Alvin Sargent (who wrote Spider-Man 2), even considered splitting the film into two parts due to the scripts increasing plot strands!
By now, Raimi had to balance Peter’s core story, the Sandman’s story, Harry’s arc, Venom and the symbiote backstory, Mary-Jane’s arc, and newcomer Gwen Stacy. That’s a lot of plates to spin, and honestly, I think Sam Raimi did a fantastic job, given what Sony had piled upon him, at juggling all of this.
Chapter 3: The Changing of Villains
Onto another villain now; the Vulture. Now, popular belief would have you think that the Vulture was due to appear in Spider-Man 4, which he was. But, originally, when Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan Raimi were writing early drafts of the script, the Vulture was going to appear in Spider-Man 3.
How big of a role the Vulture was going to be seems rather unclear to me. I’ve read differing sources of information, both of which seem to contradict one another. But let’s talk about them anyway!
I first read that the Vulture was going to be a primary villain in Spider-Man 3. I even discovered a brief plot synopsis, which I’ll post here.
This is all very interesting. This synopsis is also backed up by an early piece of concept art, too, which appears to illustrate the scenes that describe Sandman and the Vulture teaming up to escape jail.
So, with all this information, we now have a pretty clear idea as to how these particular scenes would’ve played out. In fact, it would seem that the Raimis were set on the idea of Vulture for Spider-Man 3, as the production teams worked up this concept image, and actually made a prototype of the wings – interesting stuff.
The next piece of info I read stated that the Vulture would’ve had a couple of key scenes, one at the beginning, as a sort of cameo, and then again at the end, which would have set up Spider-Man 4.
But as we all know, the Vulture was scrapped altogether when Sony forced Venom into the picture…
Chapter 4: Conclusion
…Which brings us onto the path that lead to the final version of Spider-Man 3, a film that most seem to think is a bad flick. However, with everything Sony threw at Sam Raimi, I do think he did a good job with the film, given what he had to work with.
And no, I personally don’t think it’s as bad as people say, and it’s certainly not the worst Spidey film. Sure, it’s got it’s bits that I don’t like very much, but even with all the story arcs going on in Spider-Man 3, it’s still easy to follow, and very enjoyable; it’s got some great action and set pieces. However, I really do think it’s a shame that Raimi wasn’t able to realise his vision to how he would’ve liked, but this is sometimes how things go when studios intervene.
So, that about finishes this article up. I’m planning to do an article on the development of Venom and Peter’s black suit in the near future, there are some interesting concept suits for Venom I’d like to showcase, so keep an eye out for that one if you’re interested. As for now, feel free to leave a comment below about your thoughts and opinions on Spider-Man 3, and how it could’ve been.
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