3. James Cameron's Spider-Man
We've already discussed Sam Raimi's highly successful Spider-Man film, and the enormous effect it had on modern day cinema by really opening the door for superhero movies. Yes, we'd seen films like Blade and X-Men, but it was Spider-Man who really wowed general audiences and showed the world that these were characters worth investing in and taking seriously. Of course, Raimi wasn't the first director to attach himself to a Spidey project, and in fact was preceded by one of the most successful filmmakers of all time: James Cameron. Cameron has bemoaned the prevalence of superheroes in modern cinema over the last couple years, but in 1992 attempted to bring Spider-Man to the big screen in a gritty, adult, and surprisingly mean-spirited fashion. In his script, Peter Parker was a bitter jerk, as well as a zit-popping sexually pent-up adolescent. His internal monologue is filled with comments about the "losers" around him, who will be "flipping burgers while he's discovering the cure for cancer," and he wears his isolation like a badge with an air of superiority. The script also contained several deviations from typical Spidey mythos (including a lack of a "with great power..." speech) and actually contained an awkward love scene between MJ and Peter atop the Brooklyn Bridge in which Peter utilizes several techniques that arachnids use to reproduce (accompanied by even weirder dialogue). The script is a complete mess, and though Cameron would have undoubtedly delivered an action-packed movie, it would have done no justice to a character that so many people hold dear. If you'd like, you can read the "scriptment," along with storyboard illustrations, in its entirety right
here.