“With great power comes great responsibility.” These are the words that motivate Spider-Man every day to do what he does, but surprisingly, it’s nowhere to be heard in the The Amazing Spider-Man. Speaking with MTV, director Marc Webb explained why they decided to not use the classic line:
“We played around with the idea of using it, but ultimately it felt like it was in the subtext of the film in so many places. I think we’ve all heard it so many times that I didn’t think that it was necessary to use. Uncle Ben, of course, issues a statement using some of the similar words to kind of convey that idea.
There were moments where we thought about using it, but it didn’t feel as emotionally honest to the scenes and to the sequences. We were trying to create something more naturalistic. Because we had seen it so many times before, I didn’t think it was absolutely necessary.”
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I can understand why it isn’t necessary to use the line as long as the idea is present. Plus, we’ve heard it plenty of times in the last three movies. I can live with it not being spoken in this one.
Really, the omission of this line is just another alteration on the long list of changes that filmmakers have been making to traditional comic book lore. Joss Whedon decided to not let the team call out ‘Avengers Assemble’ in The Avengers and it’s already been stated that the word ‘Catwoman’ would never be used in The Dark Knight Rises.
Webb and Whedon are both smart directors and the use of cliched catchphrases would probably demean the re-invention of the characters and make the audience feel that they’re just seeing the same thing being rehashed, as opposed to seeing a fresh take. Perhaps it’s best that these alterations are being made. I’m ok with it.
The Amazing Spider-Man swings into theaters tomorrow, let us know if you plan on checking it out.
