6 WTF Comic Book Movies That Almost Got Made

5. Spider-Man

cameronspidey

Here€™s where we really start to get into some WTF territory. When James Cameron was involved with Spider-Man, the studio was worried that he€™d go over budget. So they told him that he wouldn€™t get a single cent of his fee until he turned in a script that could be budgeted under a certain amount. Proving that you don€™t get James Cameron until you pay James Cameron, he basically took an existing script, changed a few lines, and added his name to the title page. Cameron would go on to write his own version, but the initial one he chose to pass off as his was really, really bad. In this one, both Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus get their powers from a cyclotron experiment and Doctor Octopus is after anti-gravity or something. In this script, Doctor Octopus for some reason claims he€™s Spider-Man and uses the catchphrase €œokey dokey.€ Given that Cameron was considering Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role, this is something I could actually have seen happening (and now I€™m getting flashbacks to Schwarzenegger€™s Mr. Freeze). When Cameron actually did write his own script, it wasn€™t much better. In fact, in some ways, it was much worse. Peter is described as an isolated loner€”so far, so good€”who wears his isolation as a €œbadge of superiority.€ Umm€okay? And after getting his powers, Peter awakes feeling very relaxed, and lifts up his sheets and find organic webbing€specifically a €œsticky, white mass.€ And yes, they did storyboard that scene and I have included it above, because I cannot un-see that image, and you must all share my pain. Oh, and Spider-Man and Mary Jane have sex on the Brooklyn Bridge. And they do it by performing a spider mating ritual. I don€™t know if there's a storyboard for that scene and I don't really want to know. But if there isn€™t, I€™m sure the Internet has Rule 34€™d it already. Stick to time-traveling robots and killer aliens, James. It€™s what you€™re good at.
 
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Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com