Anghus Houvouras wants to see a Superior Foes of Spider-Man movie…
Sony owning the Spider-Man movie franchise is like watching eight orangutans running a McDonalds. It’s difficult to understand how it happened, they continually struggle with the basic operations, and the end result of their efforts falls somewhere between ‘hilarious’ and ‘stomach turning’.
Marvel Studios has saved the Spider-Man franchise from the drain where it had been circling since Sony added ‘Amazing’ to the title. Homecoming is a hit and fans are excited about a Spider-Man who co-exists with everyone’s favorite Marvel characters who aren’t in the Fantastic Four or X-Men. Sony has announced some ‘Spin Offs’ of the Spider-Man universe including an anticipated Venom movie starring Tom Hardy and a Silver Sable/Black Cat movie that will no doubt inspire years worth of skin-tight cosplay at a comic convention near you.
As a lifelong fan of the Spider-Man character and amazing universe that surrounds him, it seems painfully obvious that Sony has not taken advantage of the vast well of characters and stories contained within. Two years ago I was advising Fox to ditch the Fantastic Four and instead make a Doctor Doom movie. Apparently my sage-like wisdom has been adopted by Fox who has attached the very talented Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) to guide this project into existence. Now, it’s Sony’s turn to take a piece of free advice from yours truly:
Make a Superior Foes of Spider-Man movie.
You’re unfamiliar with Superior Foes of Spider-Man? Take it away, Wikipedia: The Superior Foes of Spider-Man was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in July 2013. The series was written by Nick Spencer with artwork by Steve Lieber.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man was an excellent series using a now-familiar comic premise: A bunch of D-List villains team up to try to cut themselves out a larger piece of the criminal-empire pie but soon realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. It features some lesser-known losers of the villain community including Boomerang, Shocker, Beetle, and Speed-Demon. Think of it like a super-villain version of Oceans 11 stocked with characters who aren’t exactly the best at what they do.
If last year’s terrible Suicide Squad movie taught me anything, it’s that there is a lot of potential in a movie about super-villains. Suicide Squad squandered away so much potential. The idea of a super-villain heist movie is a good one. It could be even better with a bunch of characters that you don’t exactly need to take seriously.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man could be a lethal combination of Suicide Squad and Deadpool. Hold on, let me amend that last sentence. Superior Foes of Spider-Man could be a lethal combination of the Suicide Squad CONCEPT and the Deadpool MOVIE. A film that gives us lots of characters from the Spider-Man universe that will never make the main Spider-Man movie with a sharp blend of humor and heist shenanigans. The best part is, you could have Spider-Man in the movie. Allow me to elaborate:
There’s a legendary episode of Batman: The Animated Series called ‘Almost Got ‘im’ (co-written by the great Paul Dini) where a handful of Batman rogues are playing cards and swapping stories about the times they almost defeated Batman. If you haven’t seen this episode, go watch it. Seriously, it might be the single best Batman story ever in any medium. In a scant 22 minutes you get a real idea of not only the villains at the table but how large a shadow Batman casts over each of them. This is how they should have opened the Suicide Squad movie. By using a device that gives the audience a glimpse into the world of the villains while simultaneously showing just how epic and obsessed their shared enemy is.
Imagine a movie where Spider-Man’s lesser known rogues try to pull off a major heist while sharing stories about how Spider-Man had stopped them. All of them brought together by their shared hatred of everybody’s favorite web-slinger. Think about the humor of low-grade villains coming together to form a poor man’s Sinister Six. No one takes them seriously; not even their fellow criminals.
It’s a creatively ripe area for plot plucking. Much like Fox proved with Deadpool, there are opportunities for smaller stories with characters who break the traditional superhero movie mold.
Sony – get working on a Superior Foes of Spider-Man movie. Get a creative team like Lord and Miller on the project. Spend $80 million or less on the finished film. Then get ready for critics and fans to heap praise and money upon you.
Anghus Houvouras
Originally published July 22, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
