With Great Power: How Spider-Man Conquered Hollywood during the Golden Age of Comic Book Blockbusters

by Sean O'Connell

Overview

If Hollywood had a superhero throne, Spider-Man would be perched upon it. As the most popular superhero in the world, the web-slinger plays a pivotal role in three of the six highest-grossing film franchises in history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the Avengers quadrilogy; and the Spider-Man movies themselves.

Spidey has come a long way since Marvel guru Stan Lee first concocted him in 1962, but until now his cinematic journey has not been fully documented. The wall-crawler’s history in Hollywood is a saga filled with failed attempts, behind-the-scenes squabbles, franchise reboots, corporate intrigue, and a host of A-list names—including, of course, stars Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland. With Great Power is a lively and memorable account of the character’s rise to box-office supremacy, revealing how his movies continue to influence the comic-book adaptations being made today. Drawing on exclusive access to and extensive interviews with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters, veteran film reporter and author Sean O'Connell here gives the inside scoop on how Spider-Man clambered his way to the top of Hollywood’s superhero heap.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493066193
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,066,043
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sean O'Connell is the managing director of CinemaBlend, a globally recognized and industry-respected entertainment news website. He has been covering the film industry since 1999, and his byline has appeared in USA Today, The Washington Post, and Fandango.

Sean grew up on Marvel Comics and is a Spider-Man aficionado who covered all eight Spider-Man films during every phase of production. Since 2016, Sean has been able to file reports from the international film sets of both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far from Home.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Chapter 1 An Amazing Time to Be Spider-Man 1

Chapter 2 TV Roots and Hollywood's First Silver Screen Spider-Man 17

Chapter 3 Cannon Fodder and James Cameron's Big Swing 31

Chapter 4 Marvel's Original Big Three 49

Chapter 5 Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 65

Chapter 6 The Overwhelming Challenges of Sequels 93

Chapter 7 Andrew Garfield Goes to Comic-Con 119

Chapter 8 "Think Bigger" 139

Chapter 9 Shailene Woodley's Mary Jane Watson 155

Chapter 10 Lending Spider-Man to Marvel 165

Chapter 11 "A Film by Peter Parker" 183

Chapter 12 Spider-Man, the Avenger 203

Chapter 13 A Leap of Faith 211

Chapter 14 Sony's Spider-Verse 225

Chapter 15 An Abrupt Breakup, a Drunken Save 241

Chapter 16 No Way Home and Spider-Man's Hollywood Future 251

Notes 269

Index 285

Editorial Reviews

"A hugely entertaining and informative chronicle of the big screen history of everyone's favorite web crawler from Queens. This is a Spider-Man book by a fan for fans!"—Josh Horowitz, MTV/Comedy Central

“Sean O’Connell does Spider-Man, superhero films, and movie fans a major service by leaving no stone unturned in this incredibly detailed, thoroughly researched, and well-written book on the history of the Web-Slinger that focuses on how Spidey tangled Hollywood and generations of movie audiences everywhere in his web. The stories encompassing the Spider-Man flicks in the book told by cast members, including the icons who portrayed Peter Parker, as well as crew members, from directors to costume designers who took the creation of the legendary attire to heart, are remarkably candid and insightful. From the Spider-Man projects that didn’t swing to arguably the greatest film achievement in history, Sean helps the reader understand how it all unfolded. There will never be another Spider-Man book like With Great Power.”—Scott King, Forbes.com

"Stan Lee once claimed Spider-Man was more than a superhero, but a state of mind. Read Sean O’Connell’s With Great Power and you’ll understand how this lovable teen conquered comic books and Hollywood! O’Connell spins a web that readers will find hard to put down. Excelsior!"—Bob Batchelor, author, Stan Lee: A Life and Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel, Young Reader Edition

"The love for the Spider-Man character, in all of his various media, is apparent from the very first page. Sean O'Connell has certainly put forth an immense effort in exploring and revealing every nook and cranny of the web that was woven to bring this unassuming geek from Queens into the hearts and minds of everyone in the world. Shockingly, I've learned things about Spider-Man and how he came to be that I never knew, and that has only deepened my love for the character and this genre of entertainment. This book has certainly made me want to dig into anything and everything Spider-Man, and I'm a Thor fanboy!"—Jeff Randle, co-host: Marvel Cinematic Universe Podcast, co-creator: Stranded Panda Podcast Network

"Clones? Alternate timelines? Parallel realities? The behind-the-scenes history of the Spider-Man movies has them all beat for head-spinning complexity, and Sean O'Connell arrives just in time to untangle that web."—Douglas Wolk, author, All of the Marvels

From the Publisher