Spider-Man 2 Dork discussion - Spoilers about movie

[aledromo]

I saw it and really liked it, but I wanted to be sure I caught all of the comic references put in for people like me.  You know, like in the first movie when Jonah casually asked if Eddie [Brock] could go take pictures of something?  That said, I'll start with an easy one:

The one-armed Professor Curt Connors.  Figure he's working on his regeneration serum after lecture?

A question, too.  Was the landlord's daughter supposed to represent Gwen Stacy in some way?  Looked the part, but the name and context were different in a series that usually plays it straight.  Anyway, post what you noticed!

[Simon]

Not comic book related, but one thing I did notice (and IMDB confirmed) was that Jake from Evil Dead II was one of the passengers on the train, which I thought was really cool. That surgery/chainsaw scene was a great horror throwback for Raimi too.

[aledromo]

I like how Raimi keeps his people around.  Must suck if you're trying to break into the business, but it's cool for people who look for the comfortable familiar.

[whiteboyskim]

The Bruce.

The "Doc Ock wakes up" sequence which had me and my two friends in hysterics laughing, while everyone else was terrified.

The zoom on the chainsaw

"How about Dr. Strange?"
"Nah, it's taken!"

Jonah's regret about Spider-Man and his immediate about-face.

Quick eyes will spy the Ashmobile

The gag referencing Tobey's recent back troubles

The fact that the movie set-up Spider-Man 3, 4 and 5 in about 5 seconds a piece.

The next to final shot in the movie, which was about as joyous a moment as I've ever seen, and then the final shot of the movie, which said that Mary Jane knows exactly what she's signed up for

Aunt May's speech about heros, which just grabbed me emotionally. Something, I should add, I didn't think possible anymore.

I cannot begin to say how much I loved this movie.

[Nth Power]

It's hard picking which comic movie gets my top spot, Spider-Man 2 or X2, but I'm leaning towards Spidey since he's always been one of my favorite comic characters and I'm a fan of Raimi's films.

Every scene with Spidey and Doc Ock were fantastic with the train scene taking the cake.  Awesome!

The Spidey movies have also had the best cast.  I can't think of better choices for all the main characters.  All top notch actors and all exactly how I pictured them.

Was that Stan Lee during the first fight who almost got hit by rubble?  It happened so fast I wasn't sure if that was him.

[aledromo]

MJ at the end got me so choked up I couldn't believe it.  I haven't cried at a movie since...um, I'm not sure it's ever happened, but this is as close as I ever came.  It was really disorienting to realize that a movie was capable of doing that.  Kind of cool, really.

I'm going back in to look for the Ashmobile.  I can't let that go unnoticed!

As for Spider-Man vs. the X-men: I really, really liked the X-men movie, but the characters just don't have as much intrinsic worth as spidey to me.  They have infinite resources, are never truly alone, and are all really attractive.  I understand they feel like they have it bad, but Spidey's troubles are much easier to relate to and make his movies much easier to become invested in.  X2 is still a classic in my mind (Magneto + Grenades = Great), but S2 wins the race in my mind.

[whiteboyskim]

Was that Stan Lee during the first fight who almost got hit by rubble?  It happened so fast I wasn't sure if that was him.

Yup. It was a "blink and you miss him" moment, but that was him.

Personally, I love the world and villains of the X-Men but I like Spider-Man as a character overall. The villains of Spider-Man just suck when it's not Doc Ock, though. Rhino? WTF is this? "My First Super-Villain", and the best they come up with is someone in Titanium armor that's a little slow in the head? Boy, that's threatening. :roll:

[aledromo]

True.  Short of Venom (who was making his debut when I got into comics), most of spidey's villains leave me longing for Magneto.

[AgtFox]

Well, Venom nor Carnage will make an appearance as long as Sam Raimi is at the helm of the movies...he hates those characters.  There are still some good ones for Spidey:

Kraven the Hunter
Hobgoblin
Kingpin (he appeared in Spider-Man first)
Green Goblin II (although I'm not sure I buy James Franco in the role)
Scorpion
The Chameleon
Jackal/Carrion

and the two that appeared in human form in this movie:

Lizard
Man-Wolf

And X-Men easily have the better "big-name" villains that they can count on.  Magneto, Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, etc.

[aledromo]

Aw, man.  Where'd you hear that, Fox?

[whiteboyskim]

Actually, you could wind up with Dr. Connors turning into the Lizard at the same time that Kraven has come to town to hunt Spider-Man. Then he winds up hunting them both, while Spider-Man tries to save Connors' life/restore him, while avoiding Kraven.

[Nth Power]

The Lizard seems like he could possibly make an appearance in S3 with Dr. Connors being introduced in S2.  

Green Goblin?  Probably, but I hope they don't use that awful Power Ranger armor again.  

Kraven would be fun to see hunting Spidey, but with it being a summer movie and all, I wonder if they'd go for a villan with more flash.

Maybe Electro or Sandman?

I'd really like to see the Black Cat/Felicia Hardy make an appearance.  She could add some conflict into Peter and MJ's relationship and also be a an enemy or ally to Spidey.  ...oh yeah, and she's hot.

[Thin_J]

I'm also wondering where Fox heard that Raimi hated the Venom/Carnage characters. Not that I don't believe him, I'd just be pretty disappointed if Raimi hated my favorite Spider-Man villain ever.

Especially since the guy that Mary Jane was about to hook up with in the movie is actually the one that, if my memory serves me correctly, brings the Symbiote back to earth on him after one of his space missions. That seems like a decent enough setup for the possible introduction of the symbiote at some point in the future of the story to me.

Before I go on at all.. I'd like to point out that as much as I'd love to see the Venom/Carnage storyline in movie format, I don't seem them doing ANYTHING with it in the third movie.

If there's going to be bad guys in the third, I'd expect them to be Harry as the Green Goblin, and maybe The Lizard. Also, don't forget that Peter losing his powers in streaks eventually became the Mutation disease that almost permanantly turned him into a giant tarantula. The very disease that Dr. Connors helps him heal with the Neogenic  Recombinator, which is also the same device that turns good old Curt into the Lizard when he tries to regenerate his missing arm. I'm betting we see some more of peter losing his powers, and Connors helping him heal the mutation disease. When Peter first started losing his powers in bursts in the Comics I thought he at first attributed it to something mental, just as in the second movie. At least he did Until it kept happening. If they stick with the explanation that all of that was just in Peter's head, I'd be a bit miffed, as that's a pretty stupid explanation for the whole thing.