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So far, to me it seems that the biggest complaint people have about TDK is that James Jr. is among the supporting cast instead of an adolescent girl. That this is the thing people have found cause to harp on should tell you something about Nolan & Co.'s competency (of course, this being comics fandom, it's still being called a slap to the face of Barbara Gordon's character and feminism and niceness of all sorts. OH, YOU GUYSE, NEVER CHANGE).
But in that vein, I feel I should tell you... Spider-Man 3 would've been ten times better if Black Cat had taken Gwen Stacy's place. In fact, the only comparable improvement would've been to save Venom for Spider-Man 4; yes, Venom fans would've been disappointed that they only got a brief glimpse of Eddie getting surprise symbiote-sex at the very end and then leaping at the camera, but they're MORE DISAPPOINTED by having Venom only show up to tag-team with Sandman.
I know, I know, you're saying "hey,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seriousfic is being such a Black Cat fan again." But hear me about. Gwen Stacy's story was pretty much told as of the first Spider-Man (and o, for a glimpse of the alternate universe in which Kirsten Dunst's Gwen had died at the end of that movie and Spider-Man 2 was about Peter Parker realizing he was in love with the girl whose shoulder he'd cried on, but she was getting married and how can he love her when being Spider-Man already got someone he loved killed... you've gotta admit, it would be interesting). Inserting her into SM3 makes her conspicuous by her presence.
As a quick sidenote: This is why Gwen's death didn't work in Ultimate Spider-Man. Her story had already been told, pretty much the same as the first Spider-Man movie, only with an even stupider goblin. So instead of her death having any meaning, it was just trite and pointless. Gwen without the death is pretty much just Betty Brant or Liz Allen.
Especially since the plot calls for a woman who A. Is the "other woman" in the Peter/MJ/Newbie triangle.
B. Can serve as a temptation for him to stay in the black suit.
C. Wears skintight leather for a majority of her screentime. (Okay, yeah, BUT WHAT PLOT DOESN'T CALL FOR AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN WEARING SKINTIGHT LEATHER FOR A MAJORITY OF HER SCREENTIME? Tell me one plot that couldn't benefit from it.)
So it's Spider-Man 3 and Spidey suddenly finds himself teaming up with a sexy rookie crime-fighter/thief (she steals from the corrupt and gives to herself). Mary-Jane is seething because he's teaming up with a woman in a skintight leather catsuit with a zipper that sometimes mysteriously finds itself open to the navel, while Peter doesn't get what the big deal is. Doesn't she trust him? Does he mind when she's in a play and she has to act out a kiss with her ofttimes attractive male co-stars?
The plot rumbles forward until Peter and MJ split up. Peter impulsively reveals his identity to Felicia and makes good on all that flirting, taking her out to Mary-Jane's jazz club. Felicia gets her crowning moment of awesome as she realizes that Peter has a girlfriend he never told her about and the entire date was to get back at her, so she slugs him one and storms off (Y HELO THAR STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER), then Peter gets rid of the symbiote.
But having earlier put Sandman out of commission, Flint Marko pulls himself together to learn that his adorable littlecharacter motivation daughter has succumbed to her illness. In a rage, he turns into kaiju!Sandman and goes to town on the hospital that failed to cure her, screaming for Spider-Man to come out to play.
Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Harry (who decides ALL ON HIS OWN to help Peter, no butler ex machina) go out to fight the Sandman.
SPIDER-MAN: He's too powerful. Any hit we make, he just regenerates... but if we hit him all at once, in three different places, doing catastrophic damage... we could compromise his structural integrity too much for him to hold together!
BLACK CAT: Geeeek.
SPIDER-MAN: Harry, any more pumpkin bombs?
HARRY: Just three. Press the stem to detonate them. You'll have five seconds to clear out.
SPIDER-MAN: I'll distract him. Cat, you put one in his leg. Harry, in his chest.
HARRY: What about you?
SPIDER-MAN: (tosses pumpkin bomb up and down) I'm shoving this right down his throat.
Big action sequence where they take the Sandman down while Mary-Jane watches from the sidelines (Y HELO THAR FINALE THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE MARY-JANE WATSON IN DANGER). But as the city cheers and Felicia flirts shamelessly with Harry ("So, you're a millionaire... what's that like? ... oh, you have a scar? I think scars are sexy. Besides, it's amazing what plastic surgery can do these days. You think these are real? Nope."), Peter sees a breeze stir the sand.
Hours later, Sandman is able to regenerate. Peter confronts him in plainclothes and they have a short talk about bad things that happen, taking responsibility for mistakes, being able to choose the attitude one's going to adopt towards life no matter what you're experience, no matter where you are. Mary-Jane hangs back and, as Sandman agrees to turn himself in after he says goodbye to his daughter (which will make the audience, at least the ones that aren't cynical bastards, think AWW SAD! at him blowing away in the wind instead of HE'S GETTING AWAY! SPIDER-MAN, GRAB A DUST-BUSTER, HE'S GETTING AWAY!), embraces Peter.
And then Eddie gets surprise symbiote-sex and the audience goes home thinking about how awesome Spider-Man 4 is going to be.
But in that vein, I feel I should tell you... Spider-Man 3 would've been ten times better if Black Cat had taken Gwen Stacy's place. In fact, the only comparable improvement would've been to save Venom for Spider-Man 4; yes, Venom fans would've been disappointed that they only got a brief glimpse of Eddie getting surprise symbiote-sex at the very end and then leaping at the camera, but they're MORE DISAPPOINTED by having Venom only show up to tag-team with Sandman.
I know, I know, you're saying "hey,
seriousfic is being such a Black Cat fan again." But hear me about. Gwen Stacy's story was pretty much told as of the first Spider-Man (and o, for a glimpse of the alternate universe in which Kirsten Dunst's Gwen had died at the end of that movie and Spider-Man 2 was about Peter Parker realizing he was in love with the girl whose shoulder he'd cried on, but she was getting married and how can he love her when being Spider-Man already got someone he loved killed... you've gotta admit, it would be interesting). Inserting her into SM3 makes her conspicuous by her presence. As a quick sidenote: This is why Gwen's death didn't work in Ultimate Spider-Man. Her story had already been told, pretty much the same as the first Spider-Man movie, only with an even stupider goblin. So instead of her death having any meaning, it was just trite and pointless. Gwen without the death is pretty much just Betty Brant or Liz Allen.
Especially since the plot calls for a woman who A. Is the "other woman" in the Peter/MJ/Newbie triangle.
B. Can serve as a temptation for him to stay in the black suit.
C. Wears skintight leather for a majority of her screentime. (Okay, yeah, BUT WHAT PLOT DOESN'T CALL FOR AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN WEARING SKINTIGHT LEATHER FOR A MAJORITY OF HER SCREENTIME? Tell me one plot that couldn't benefit from it.)
So it's Spider-Man 3 and Spidey suddenly finds himself teaming up with a sexy rookie crime-fighter/thief (she steals from the corrupt and gives to herself). Mary-Jane is seething because he's teaming up with a woman in a skintight leather catsuit with a zipper that sometimes mysteriously finds itself open to the navel, while Peter doesn't get what the big deal is. Doesn't she trust him? Does he mind when she's in a play and she has to act out a kiss with her ofttimes attractive male co-stars?
The plot rumbles forward until Peter and MJ split up. Peter impulsively reveals his identity to Felicia and makes good on all that flirting, taking her out to Mary-Jane's jazz club. Felicia gets her crowning moment of awesome as she realizes that Peter has a girlfriend he never told her about and the entire date was to get back at her, so she slugs him one and storms off (Y HELO THAR STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER), then Peter gets rid of the symbiote.
But having earlier put Sandman out of commission, Flint Marko pulls himself together to learn that his adorable little
Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Harry (who decides ALL ON HIS OWN to help Peter, no butler ex machina) go out to fight the Sandman.
SPIDER-MAN: He's too powerful. Any hit we make, he just regenerates... but if we hit him all at once, in three different places, doing catastrophic damage... we could compromise his structural integrity too much for him to hold together!
BLACK CAT: Geeeek.
SPIDER-MAN: Harry, any more pumpkin bombs?
HARRY: Just three. Press the stem to detonate them. You'll have five seconds to clear out.
SPIDER-MAN: I'll distract him. Cat, you put one in his leg. Harry, in his chest.
HARRY: What about you?
SPIDER-MAN: (tosses pumpkin bomb up and down) I'm shoving this right down his throat.
Big action sequence where they take the Sandman down while Mary-Jane watches from the sidelines (Y HELO THAR FINALE THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE MARY-JANE WATSON IN DANGER). But as the city cheers and Felicia flirts shamelessly with Harry ("So, you're a millionaire... what's that like? ... oh, you have a scar? I think scars are sexy. Besides, it's amazing what plastic surgery can do these days. You think these are real? Nope."), Peter sees a breeze stir the sand.
Hours later, Sandman is able to regenerate. Peter confronts him in plainclothes and they have a short talk about bad things that happen, taking responsibility for mistakes, being able to choose the attitude one's going to adopt towards life no matter what you're experience, no matter where you are. Mary-Jane hangs back and, as Sandman agrees to turn himself in after he says goodbye to his daughter (which will make the audience, at least the ones that aren't cynical bastards, think AWW SAD! at him blowing away in the wind instead of HE'S GETTING AWAY! SPIDER-MAN, GRAB A DUST-BUSTER, HE'S GETTING AWAY!), embraces Peter.
And then Eddie gets surprise symbiote-sex and the audience goes home thinking about how awesome Spider-Man 4 is going to be.
