Jon Watts (Cop Car) was a surprising choice to take the helm of Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man reboot, but for anyone concerned about whether or not he’s the right man for the job, the director’s recent comments about the comic books he’s been reading for inspiration are sure to put plenty of minds at ease.
After confirming that Spider-Man’s role in Captain America: Civil War has now been shot, Watts had this to say about the comic books which are inspiring his take on the iconic Marvel superhero:
“Oh, I love that. Ultimate is great. I love Ultimate. We have the freedom to pull from anything, but I really like what [Brian Michael] Bendis did. A lot. That felt like… that was Peter Parker back in high school. And, spending as much time with his high school problems as it did with his superhero problems, which I think is really a lot of fun. There’s also some really funny comics stuff, like, the Archies. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane series, but they have this really great anime-style illustration, and it’s all just about Peter Parker’s relationships. It’s like the soap opera of Peter Parker in high school. Those are really funny, too. I’m just sitting around reading comic books all day – it’s a pretty great job.”
While most comic book fans would have preferred him to mention Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s early work as inspiration instead of the Ultimate line (which served as inspiration for The Amazing Spider-Man movies), those are still a good place to turn for solid stories revolving around Peter Parker’s teenage years.
The Mary Jane series he mentions is another interesting choice, but if nothing else, these comments show that Watts is covering a lot of different source material to deliver the best take on Spider-Man to date. Or at least, we hope that’s the case.
