READER POLL: 'The Hobbit' will triumph but 'X-Men' and 'Pirates' franchises should quit now

FOUR FRANCHISES AT A CROSSROADS

 

Talk about heroic: Four film franchises, one decade, more than $10 billion worth of theater tickets sold.

And more than that, in their very best moments, each of these franchises shown above delivered sparkling adventure and escapism for moviegoers. Now, though, with the decade winding down and all four franchises sitting a nice tidy trilogy, the question must be asked: Isn't three the magic number? Do we really need a fourth movie from any of these aging popcorn enterprises? Clearly, all of them will be written up in the Hollywood history books but right now the indelicate must be asked: "How can we miss you if you won't leave?"

Last week we gave you an in-depth report on this quartet of mega-franchises and their quests for a fourth visit to theaters. We told you how "The Hobbit" must escape the the towering shadow of "The Lord of the Rings," while Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" series needs to get back to its roots to thrive. We also explained that the "X-Men" future looks especially uncertain while the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise might be facing a one-man mutiny with Johnny Depp's distress over recent changes at Disney.

We also put the question to you: Which of these franchises is making a mistake by adding a fourth film?

You made it clear that "The Hobbit," with director Guillermo del Toro taking over with a new vision, is in a class by itself -- the other franchises may tack on new editions to cash in, but fans are expecting nothing but magic from Del Toro's arrival in Middle-earth. The remaining three franchises got a frostier reception. For five days last week, more than half of our reader voters named "Pirates" as the cinematic series that should walk the plank. Over the weekend that changed and (with a lot of late-arriving Depp fans?) the surging "X-Men" became the top choice as a franchise hitting bottom.

It's not too late, though, we'll take votes for the next 48 hours before declaring our, uh, winning loser. In the meantime, thanks for reading, commenting and voting.

-- Geoff Boucher

  

VOTE: WHICH FRANCHISE IS MAKING A MISTAKE WITH A FOURTH FILM?

   

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Photos at top, from left, Ian McKellen in "Lord of the Rings," Tobey Maguire in "Spider-Man," Halle Berry in "X-Men: The Last Stand" and Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean."  Credits from left: New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios. Bottom photo of Sam Raimi by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

'Spider-Man' franchise is tangled up in its own web

FOUR FRANCHISES AT A CROSSROADS: PART TWO

This week we're taking a look at four major trilogies from this decade that are looking to add a fourth film despite substantial challenges -- not least among those challenges the skepticism of moviegoers who may wonder if some of these Hollywood vehicles are running on empty. You can find the other three installments of the series right here.

 

"SPIDER-MAN"

The story so far: Not that long ago, the standard assumption in Hollywood was that there were only two superheroes with enough general-audience appeal to carry a film franchise -- Superman and Batman. That changed in May 2002 when "Spider-Man" swung into theaters and grabbed $115 million domestically in its opening weekend, setting a new record at the time. Unlike the wholesome and invulnerable Man of Steel of Metropolis or the handsome billionaire prowling Gotham City alleys, this spindly masked man was a high-school nerd bitten by a bug. Not only did he fight villains, he had to contend with homework, money problems, public derision and a losing streak with girls. The franchise, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, has continued to soar commercially -- "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007 again set the mark for the biggest U.S. opening weekend with $151 million (although last year's "The Dark Knight" edged it with $158 million). Worldwide, the "Spider-Man" films have brought in close to $3.5 billion at theaters and keyed billions and billions more in the sales of toys, video games, DVDs, clothing, etc.

The challenge: If you are Sony Pictures and you look at the ledger, a fourth "Spider-Man" film is a no-brainer -- the web-slinger movies rank as the three highest-grossing films in the studio's history (further down that list are considerable hits such as "Men in Black," "Terminator 2" and "Ghostbusters"). But while the first two films were widely praised for their verve and heart, the third edition of Peter Parker's saga struck many viewers as noisy, hollow and disjointed. The Rotten Tomatos rating for "Spider-Man 3," for instance, was 62%, well below the glowing 90% and 94% for the first two films, respectively. One fan of the first two films, Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan, wrote that the success of the first two films sapped the heart out of the third: "This is a film that commerce mandated, a marketing puzzle that insisted on a solution ... it's as if its plot elements were the product of competing contractors who never saw the need to cooperate on a coherent final product." The fourth movie has other challenges: How many other ways can the relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson be bent without totally losing its shape? What villain left on the list can connect with a wide audience?

The status: In May, Raimi told the Hero Complex that filming will start next February. In that same interview, with our Gina McIntyre, he said he has regrets not just about the third film, but all of them. "What would I have done differently? I would have done everything differently, every single shot. I think in every picture that I’ve ever made. Everything that I’ve done torments me." He also said of the character Peter Parker: "I’d like to really make a great picture with him and bring the character to life at a level of detail that I’ve never realized before. It’s almost like I have a desire to do something I’ve been trying to do right and haven’t yet been able to. Not exactly." Raimi is on board for the fourth film, but will he stay past its May 2011 release? Sony is certainly interested in taking Spidey well into the next decade; screenwriter James Vanderbilt ("Zodiac") is already at work on the story for the fifth and sixth films, which is reportedly a single story arc spread over two movies.

The prediction: No one was more disappointed with "Spider-Man 3" than me -- well, perhaps Raimi was, although I doubt he would ever admit that publicly. The first two films were nimble, smart and fun, the perfect summer films; Raimi made so many good decisions that it was easy to forgive his one glaring clunker (the casting of the wan Dunst as Mary Jane). My defining memory of Raimi: I interviewed him on the set of the first "Spider-Man" movie and he told me that as a child his birthday gift one year was a Spider-Man mural his mom painted above his bed. He fell asleep at night staring up at the hero. Raimi's deep affection for the vintage 1960s and 1970s comics of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita infused the first two movies. The third one, though, was driven by its set pieces and visual effects, not by story or character -- it was all badly stacked brick and no mortar. It's telling that the most heartfelt presence in the movie was the 1960s character Sandman, while the 1980s creation Venom (whom Raimi initially resisted) added to the clutter. Listening to Raimi now, my guess is we get an old-school villain like the Rhino, Vulture, the Lizard, Mysterio or perhaps Morbius (or some combination from that group) and Raimi's return to form. I suspect it will also be his last Spidey film before a new director and cast come in or the subsequent two-parter.

-- Geoff Boucher

 
Four major franchises look to make a fourth film, but should they?

VOTE: WHICH FRANCHISE IS MAKING A MISTAKE WITH A FOURTH FILM?

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PHOTO: Spider-Man photo from Sony Pictures. Sam Raimi photographed by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times. John Romita's Spider-Man artwork: Marvel Comics.

Four major franchises look to make a fourth film -- but should they? [Updated]

They are four of the biggest franchises in Hollywood history and each is at a major crossroads. This week the Hero Complex will look at "The Lord of the Rings," "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" and size up their future as they attempt to move past their original trilogies and into a new decade.

Tuesday "Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit": How can Guillermo del Toro possibly match up to Peter Jackson's magical conquests ($2.92 billion in global box office and 17 Oscars including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay)? At least he has Jackson on his side ...

Wednesday "Spider-Man": Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are back for more and that's no surprise considering "Spider-Man 3" had the highest-grossing opening weekend of the wall-crawling films -- and went on to make $891 million worldwide. Still, the last film got decidedly mixed reviews, and some fans are wondering if the magic is gone.

Thursday: "X-Men": The summer 2000 release of Bryan Singer's "X-Men" truly signaled the beginning of the modern era of superhero cinema and its new ambitions. While the 2006 release of "X-Men: The Last Stand" led to commercial success ($459 million), the hero-snuffing plot, the finality of the title and those cruel reviews all suggested the run was over. Now, though, producers are looking for a return to the mutant chronicles...

Friday "Pirates of the Caribbean" : The fourth film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," hits theaters in 2011, but after a shake-up at the top of Walt Disney Studios, star Johnny Depp said he is feeling glum about the project. If he's not excited, should you be?

Check back to read them all, but in the meantime, give us your opinion: Which franchise would be making the biggest mistake by continuing past the original trilogy? Vote below ...

-- Geoff Boucher

Photos from left, Ian McKellen in "Lord of the Rings," Tobey Maguire in "Spider-Man," Halle Berry in "X-Men: The Last Stand" and Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean."  Credits from left: New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios.

UPDATED: Previous version of this post had an incorrect year of release on one of the X-films.

Sam Raimi drags his star through hell: We had puppets that projectile-vomited maggots into her mouth

I first met Sam Raimi on the set of the first "Spider-Man" film and my memory of him was as an exceedingly polite filmmaker who asked if I might consider not mentioning that he was smoking cigarettes because he was worried that he might be setting a bad example for youngsters. I didn't have any idea that day in downtown Los Angeles that Raimi's superhero franchise would make Hollywood history by ushering in this modern era of massive and faithful comic-book adaptations. He's at work now on the fourth film in the franchise but his attention at the moment is on his return to horror with "Drag Me to Hell." Gina McIntyre, our horror specialist here at Hero Complex, caught up with the filmmaker for this cover story in today's Los Angeles Times Calendar section. -- G.B.

Sam Raimi does not seem like a gleeful sadist. During a recent morning interview in the sparsely populated Culver City production offices of "Spider-Man 4," he's exceedingly polite and far more modest than the average A-list director whose blockbuster comic book movie franchise has grossed almost $2.5 billion around the world.

But lurking beneath that gentle, Midwestern exterior is a man who, in the interest of ratcheting up the tension in his new horror movie, "Drag Me to Hell," opening Friday, dreamed up a gantlet of physically punishing torments for his star, Alison Lohman.

"So much happens to her," Raimi says, recounting the various tortures he inflicted on the actress. "She has pumps placed inside her body to spew blood, inside her nostril, when she's got this big bloody nose scene. I have dummies that were made with extra wide jaw openings . . . to suckle her face with slime oozing out of it. And then I had to bury her in about 800 pounds of mud. And then we had puppets that were designed just to projectile-vomit maggots inside her mouth."

"Sometimes I would look at Sam and say, 'Are you serious?' " Lohman says later. "It was kind of unbelievable at times. It almost didn't feel like making a movie, but I was on 'Survivor.' He didn't ever let up on me."

Somehow, Raimi's dark side hasn't done any injury to his reputation as a gentleman filmmaker. The 49-year-old Michigan native has managed to become one of Hollywood's most successful directors, building a reputation over the last 10 years as a technical virtuoso who believes in emphasizing story over spectacle -- even when that spectacle involves a costumed superhero facing off against, say, a menacing villain possessed by a mind-altering bodysuit from outer space.

His ability to craft smart studio tentpoles like the three "Spider-Man" films and quiet dramas such as 1998's Oscar-nominated "A Simple Plan" has made him a favorite among critics, who, judging from early reviews, seem to be equally enthralled with his latest offering, which played at the Cannes Film Festival last week.

Given the events that set the story in motion, "Drag Me to Hell" couldn't be more topical: Bank officer Christine (Lohman) attempts to impress her bottom-line-minded boss by refusing an old gypsy woman's request for a third extension on her mortgage. The gypsy (Lorna Raver) takes her revenge in the form of a curse designed to put a serious damper on Christine's afterlife. The plot taps into real-world fears over the collapse of the world's financial markets, soaring unemployment and the burst of the housing bubble, but the timing is sheer accident. Raimi and his brother Ivan adapted "Drag Me to Hell" from an unpublished short story that they had written together years ago...

READ THE REST

-- Gina McIntyre

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Top photo of Sam Raimi in 2009 by Ann Johansson/For The Times. Bottom photo of Raimi in 2004 by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times.
 

Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man' regrets: 'I would have done everything differently.'

Hero Complex contributor Gina McIntyre recently sat down with Sam Raimi to talk about his upcoming return to the horror genre, “Drag Me to Hell,” set for release later this month. She also quizzed the director on the status of other projects, too, namely the next “Spider-Man” installment and the long-discussed remake of his feature debut, “The Evil Dead,” which stands as an indie-horror classic. Check back here for the "Drag Me to Hell" piece, but in the meantime here's the wallcrawler update...

G.M.: What’s the status of “Spider-Man 4”?

S.R.: The next installment begins shooting, I believe, in February 2010. As far as we’re concerned, that’s no time left because they need so much time to work on the screenplay, casting is long, the storyboarding and the shots are very, very complicated. There’s a lot of animation, there’s a lot of character design, costume design. It’s like making an animated film and a live-action film. I’ll just barely be ready.

G.M.: Few directors endure in a franchise through four films. What made you return to the Marvel Comics character for yet another chapter?

S.R.: I love Peter Parker. I’ve always loved the Spider-Man comics, and I feel like I still know more about the character that I think I can bring to the screen -- and perhaps make it great if I do it right. It’s the same reason I keep reading the Spider-Man comic books. I’m really enamored with the character and now I feel like I have a history with him. I’d like to really make a great picture with him and bring the character to life at a level of detail that I’ve never realized before. It’s almost like I have a desire to do something I’ve been trying to do right and haven’t yet been able to. Not exactly.

G.M.: Are there things that you’d wish you’d done differently in the previous “Spider-Man” films? The first two earned especially strong reviews...

S.R.: What would I have done differently? I would have done everything differently, every single shot. I think in every picture that I’ve ever made. Everything that I’ve done torments me. I really would like another chance except I’d be too embarrassed to ever really try to do them again and no one would want to see the same movie just done differently.

'The Prisoner,' '24' and 'Watchmen' all in Everyday Hero headlines

It's time for a Finally Friday edition of Everyday Hero, your daily roundup of handpicked fanboy headlines from across the fanboy universe...

"THE PRISONER," BACK IN CUSTODY: The best news you'll read today comes to us from Maria Elena Fernandez, the Los Angeles Times television reporter who is covering the Television Critics Assn. tour events here this week. Fernandez reports that "The Prisoner," that strange classic of British television, is being revived by some impressive talent: "On a high from its award-winning, critical darlings 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad,' AMC is remaking 'The Prisoner,' the TV cult classic from the 1960s. The original series, co-created  by Patrick McGoohan, was influenced by Cold War politics. The new version, produced by Trevor Hopkins ('Dracula'), reflects 21st Century issues, such as liberty, security and surveillance, while keeping the original's paranoid, tense tone. The six one-hour episodes begin with a man (Jim Caviezel of "The Thin Red Line") who resigns from his job and wakes up to find himself trapped in a mysterious and surreal place called The Village, with no memory of having arrived there. The Village residents are identified by number and have no memory of a previous existence.  The Village is controlled by 'Two' (Sir Ian McKellen) who is locked in a battle of wits with 'Six' (Caviezel) throughout the miniseries. Caviezel said he was initially interested in the role -- his first TV series -- because McKellen was a part of it, but then was taken with the entire project when he read the script. 'This blew everything out of the water that I was thinking about doing,' he said. McKellen said he watched some of the episodes of the original in reruns because he was busy doing theater when it first aired on TV in England in the 1970s, and reminded the TV press that there were no VCRs back then." [Los Angeles Times, Show Tracker blog] (Want to see some scenes from the classic series? Go to the bottom of this post...)

WE HAVE WAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK: The two-hour premiere of "24" is this Sunday on Fox and for a show that is famous for edge-of-your-seat action, there is plenty of armchair analysis about the political subtexts of the show. Take the review by television critic Alessandra Stanley on the cover of today's Arts section in the New York Times -- the piece mentions Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney before Jack Bauer's name even comes up. Stanley writes that sometimes the torn-from-today's headlines stuff can make for windy television: "Jack is summoned by subpoena all the way from Africa to a Senate hearing and scolded by a pompous senator about taking the law into his own hands. Undaunted, Jack fires back with a laconic blast of fresh-from-the-front-lines realism that echoes some of Mr. Cheney’s more recent statements on the subject. It’s not a coincidence. Torture and the moral debate that surrounds it have been a leitmotif on '24' for several seasons now. Last season in particular the show’s creators, Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, turned it into a cause célèbre, not just by depicting prolonged and gruesome scenes of torture but also by having characters voice their opinions about torture with labored, even cartoonish intensity.  Scenes like the Senate confrontation may be cathartic for conservatives upset that the Cheney doctrine is likely to be reversed by the new administration. (Mr. Obama’s choice to lead the C.I.A., Leon E. Panetta, has argued passionately against it.) But it’s kind of a buzz kill for fans of the show who eagerly wait for a new installment of torture, nuclear explosions, biochemical mass destruction and the latest nerdy computer surveillance techniques. In an action-adventure show, torture should be seen and not heard about. And that pedantic streak makes the first hour of the season premiere a little like being in a bar with a football superstar, eagerly awaiting tales of gridiron glory, only to have to listen to him drone on and on about the hypocrisy and injustice of steroid testing. Fortunately, and predictably, the Senate sanctimony is interrupted by an urgent threat to national security that only Jack Bauer can handle." [New York Times]

RORSCHACH TEST: Is the Doomsday clock ticking for "Watchmen"? Or is the legal squabble between two studios just posturing? We told you yesterday that producer Lloyd Levin vented in a public letter that took Fox to task for trying to make a buck on "Watchmen" and now John Horn, one of the savviest of the veteran reporters covering the film industry, has a summation of that letter and a tidy appraisal of the conflict to date: "Fox sued Warners in February, claiming the studio and 'Watchmen' producer Larry Gordon never obtained the necessary movie rights from Fox. U.S. District Judge Gary Feess ruled in Fox’s favor on Dec. 24, saying that Fox, not Warners, owns a copyright interest in 'Watchmen.' Fox, the judge said, controls at the very least the film’s distribution rights. Warners was set to release the $130-million film on March 6, but Feess will convene a mini-trial in the coming weeks to decide who gets to release the movie. Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Levin’s letter. Levin did not return a telephone message. Levin, an established producer with credits on 'United 93,' 'Hellboy' and 'Boogie Nights' among many others, recounts in his letter the film’s long and often troubled path to the screen. He says that Fox dismissed the film’s basic screenplay with an expletive. 'Conversely, Warner Brothers called us after having read the script and said they were interested in the movie — yes, they were unsure of the screenplay, and had many questions, but wanted to set a meeting to discuss the project, which they promptly did. Did anyone at Fox ask to meet on the movie? No. Did anyone at Fox express any interest in the movie? No. Express even the slightest interest in the movie? Or the graphic novel? No,' Levin writes." [Los Angeles Times] (NOTE:Check back today about 3 p.m., we'll have another story on the latest news in this studio conflict...)

MORE VAMPIRES?: I have nothing against the fanged undead but it's getting a bit much don't you think? We're obviously going to have the "Twilight" franchise in theaters for the next few years, then there's "True Blood" on HBO (of which I am a fan) and about a half-dozen other bloodsucker projects in recent months or on the horizon. Now, there's a ripple of a rumor that director Sam Raimi will put a vamp in "Spider-Man 4," namely Morbius the Living Vampire, who first popped up in the comics way back in 1971 and is fairly cool but less important in Spidey lore than the Vulture, Electro, the Lizard or Mysterio. Where are the rumors coming from? Raimi himself. He spoke to Empire Magazine and said this: "I like it in the Marvel comics when Spider-Man fights Morbius. He’s really cool. A vampire! I like that combination of superhero plus supernatural.” (That quote is not online yet at the Empire website, so I'm taking it second hand from Slashfilm's brief mention of it.) Now Raimi didn't exactly say he was out casting for a Morbius but that's how it's being presented in the breathless blogosphere. I'm guessing Lizard will be the next villain (or one of them), considering the careful set-up of his character in the previous Spidey films and also Raimi's love of the Steve Ditko-era villains.

ON THIS DATE: Speaking of Spidey, today is the birthday of actor J.K. Simmons, who is absolutely pitch-perfect as the flat-topped, abrasive J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of The Daily Bugle. Simmons, born 54 years ago today in Detroit, is currently a key part of the cast of "The Closer," and I especially enjoyed his nuanced work as Dr. Emil Skoda, one of the memorable recurring characters from "Law & Order." In honor of his birthday today, let's be righteously indignant and keep an eye on our kids who just might turn out to be werewolves.

Keep reading for that vintage footage from "The Prisoner"...

Greg Nicotero talks about the masters of movie mayhem and 'malicious hysteria'

Hero Complex brought you an exclusive, in-depth piece yesterday on the future of Stan Winston Effects, the storied special-effects house founded by the late, great wizard of Hollywood. Now Gina McIntyre, who writes about horror for the H.C., brings us a chat with Greg Nicotero, another master of movie mayhem and the executive producer of a new documentary about the artistry of horror that airs tonight on Starz.

If your DVD library contains multiple copies of the "Evil Dead" films, this one's for you. The documentary “Starz Inside: Fantastic Flesh” features interviews with the makeup artists responsible for creating some of the most gruesome moments in horror cinema: Dick Smith, Tom Savini, Rick Baker, Rob Bottin and Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero of KNB EFX, the Van Nuys-based shop that, during its 20 years in business, has amassed a lengthy list of credits that includes “Army of Darkness,” “Kill Bill Vols. 1 and 2,” "Sin City," “Grindhouse” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” films, among others.

According to Nicotero, the idea was to showcase the history of great effects work, dating to the pioneering work of Jack Pierce in the 1930s -– he was the man who transformed Boris Karloff into Frankenstein’s monster. The hour-long documentary includes on-camera appearances not only from the effects mavens themselves, but also the writers, directors and actors responsible for landmark genre films. Nicotero describes the roster as a “who’s who of genre filmmaking” -- George Romero, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Joe Dante, Simon Pegg and Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire back for 'Spider-Man' 4 & 5?

Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood reports that Sony has locked in director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire for two more "Spider-Man" films. She also says Kirsten Dunst is likely to return but that a deal hasn't been finalized.

Who will be the villain? I'd love to see the Vulture or Electro (or both), but if Finke's unnamed sources are right, it will be the Lizard (which is fine and hardly a surprise given the careful setup in previous films) or Man-Wolf (which leaves me a bit cold and could be too close to the upcoming "The Wolf-Man"). Anyway, here is what Finke reports:

Sony is taking its time officially hiring the movie's villain since principal photography doesn't start on Spider-Man 4 until next fall because of the recently postponed May 2011 release. I am told, however, that "once you find out who the villain is, you'll know who's playing it." That should lead to speculation that Dylan Baker's character of Dr. Curt Connors will ultimately turn into The Lizard as he did in the comic books. There's one other character that's been set up but is a real longshot -- Daniel Gillies, who plays John Jameson, the astronaut fiance of Mary Jane in Spider-Man 2. In the comics he becomes the villain Man-Wolf. Raimi has said in the past that he wants the best actors to play the villains in the movie, not necessarily the most famous.

I'm also told that, right now, the studio is trying to figure out if it can feasibly shoot Spider-Man 4 and 5 at the same time because doing that is so cost effective and "it wasn't so easy to get everybody back together."

She also says there is ramping interest in a Venom movie. This is one I just don't get. I never much cared for the character, and I was surprised that Raimi, a die-hard devotee of Steve Ditko, kowtowed to pressure to put him in the films. Finke:

And Sony has hired a pair of screenwriters to get going on the Spider-Man 3 spinoff movie Venom. Given that comic book artist/writer and action figure maker, Todd McFarlane, who is one of the creators of the Marvel villain, doesn't think a Venom movie could do well with a villain as the central character, my sources think Sony should let Topher Grace, even though he was blown up at the end of Spider-Man 3 (yet a portion of the Venom costume survived), stay in the role because the likeable actor could be a a sympathetic evildoer.

I'd be very happy to see Raimi and Maguire back together on Spidey. The third film was muddled and oddly indulgent (it also seemed rushed to me, like it needed a few more edits) and I hated the way it undermined its own history (both on screen and in the comics) by rewriting the murder of Uncle Ben and putting the gun in the hand of Sandman. Terrible idea. Despite that, I still consider Raimi the gold standard as far as filmmakers adapting comics. I also think he learned from the mistakes of "Spider-Man 3."