6.21.11 Roundup: SPIDER-MAN
The news out this week: Peter Parker will die.
Spider-Death
Marvel Comics Senior Editor Mark Paniccia says, “10 years ago, Brian Bendis and Mark Millar changed the way people saw super heroes with the birth of the Ultimate Universe. With ‘Death of Spider-Man’ the two have done it again, creating a story just as big, and something that would really resonate with fans.”
With issue #160, Parker will fall saving Aunt May, and in following issues a new character will don the Spider-Suit.
The Ultimate Comics Universe is not to be confused with the regular continuity. Peter Parker will continue to be alive and well and spinning webs in the long-running AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Think of them as alternate universes. The Ultimate titles were started in 2000, with modern re-interpretations of the classic Marvel characters (similar to what DC is about to do, except in a different line of titles)
[If you REALLY want spoilers, Bleeding Cool has them, via USA Today and the New York Post]
Spider-Dish
Since being fired in March, Julie Taymor has kept relatively quiet about the most expensive show on Broadway. Now, she’s finally opened up about her experience bringing the web-head to the Great White Way with Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. At the Theater Communications Group conference, Taymor said she was opposed to the producers’ idea of using focus groups to determine the show’s elements, calling it “scary” to have an audience tell her what to do with her show.
Taymor also said the rise of social media – Twitter and Facebook, among others – make it incredibly difficult to be creative. “When you’re trying to create new work, and you’re trying to break new ground and experiment, which seems an incredibly crazy thing to do in a Broadway environment, the immediate answers that audiences give are never going to be good.” She also would have preferred to open in a venue other than Broadway, in order to work out the shows birth pains and get everything right before opening in New York.
[More at the New York Times] [Tor.com’s review of the revamped show here]
And of course, “Law & Order” had their episode featuring the Broadway show Icarus. Cynthia Nixon plays the Taymor-esque character, a Broadway producer with her hands full of the biggest, most expensive show ever. Of course, when an accident turns to foul play, the “L&O” team spring into action!
Related: Reeve Carney talks about the show in this interview with MTV News, saying “It feels like an entirely new show.” He also shares that it’s been tough to weather the storm of so much negativity about the show.
Related: T.V. Carpio also dishes about the trials of getting the wall-crawler onto the stage. Carpio auditioned for the role of Mary Jane, got cast in the “geek chorus” (which is gone in the new show), and got tapped to replace Natalie Mendoza as Arachne.
Also, check out this video from “Sesame Street”:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/aR1DdMeVqTw]
However, the musical doesn’t seem to have been hurt by the bad press. Last week, the show pulled in over $1 million.
Spider-Daze
Andrew Garfield talks about the abnormally long shooting schedule for the upcoming AMAZING SPIDER-MAN reboot over on E! Online. And he cracks wise about co-star Emma Stone’s culinary skills.
Spider-Dimensions
The new trailer for Spider-Man: Edge of Time shows the present-day webhead getting assistance from his year 2099 counterpart, facing Anti-Venom and a a time traveler bent on destroying Peter Parker, thus causing a rift that allows the two heroes to team up and try to set things straight.
Spider-Debut
Marvel announced that November marks the debut of a new Spidey title: AVENGING SPIDER-MAN, by writer Zeb Wells and artist Joe Madureira. The comic will focus on the (alive) Peter Parker Spider-Man as a superhero in connection with the Avengers.
Is it the year of the Spider?
