From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Sam wasn't convinced that I was the right director in the eyes of Sony Columbia and Marvel, so he spent a whole hour trying to prove his worth.

Anson, not exactly the friendly neighborhood boy like Tobey Maguire, now also needed to put in the effort to prove he was the right choice.

Implicitly, this was an intertextuality; perhaps, it could even become the key for Anson to touch Sam's heart. Empathy could awaken resonance. Thus, the content of Sam's meeting would play an important role.

Edgar's intelligence had two key points.

First, Sam knew the comics very well, even to the point of being a master.

With Anson's half-baked understanding of the original comics, there was no need to show off his limited knowledge. Otherwise, he might expose his weaknesses in front of an expert. He should just say what he knows and avoid pretending to understand what he doesn't.

Second, Sam was a purist.

Whether it's comics, novels, games, or later live-action adaptations of comics, all adaptations need to face the severe challenge of purists, because preconceived notions are deeply rooted. They have their own interpretations of the work, and their own standards for the characters and plot.

Naturally, purists might have their own imagined images in their minds.

This was somewhat disadvantageous to Anson, because Tobey Maguire was close to the friendly neighborhood boy image in the original comics, which was why he was favored by Sam.

In fact, Tobey and Scott Speedman were both born in 1975, making them twenty-five years old this year. Having them play high school students wasn't necessarily entirely accurate, but Tobey's baby face, which limited his career's range of roles, was actually an advantage here.

However, purists' imaginations of characters are mainly a vague outline. Appearance is only part of it; the more important thing is personality.

Perhaps Anson could start from here.

Here, there was a key piece of information: Although Iron Man became the most popular character in the Marvel Universe with the popularity of "The Avengers," before "Iron Man" was released, the well-deserved king of popularity in Marvel Comics was Spider-Man. He was also the only comic book character who could compete with DC's "Trinity" of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

So, what was the reason for Spider-Man's popularity?

Of course, delving into the history of comics, the competition between Marvel and DC, the changes of the times, etc., all played irreplaceable roles, just like heroes being born from the times. But Anson's understanding of that history was limited. What came to his mind now was another key piece of information.

Stan Lee, who single-handedly created Spider-Man and many other Marvel superhero characters, once said in an interview:

"The unique thing about Spider-Man is that he's an ignorant high school student. He's the first superhero who needs to worry about dealing with personal trivial matters, which is very different from Superman, whose daily life is mysterious and erratic."

In fact, not only Superman, Batman is a billionaire whose superpower is money, Wonder Woman is an Amazonian goddess, Iron Man is also a money-spreading rich man, Captain America is an official representative with the research power of a country, and so on.

Other superheroes also have their own troubles and predicaments, but compared to their own situations, their mission is more about saving humanity, saving the earth, and so on.

But Spider-Man is different.

He's just a kid. His superpowers don't have the power to destroy the world or reverse the universe—so when Disney tried to integrate the entire Marvel Universe, they simply completely changed Spider-Man's setting, using high technology made by Iron Man to enhance Spider-Man's abilities, only in this way could it match the theme of saving the earth in the movies.

Although this allowed Spider-Man to integrate into the Marvel Universe, it was equivalent to destroying the setting that Spider-Man initially attracted readers and distinguished him from other superheroes. Therefore, the Tom Holland version of the Spider-Man series of films performed well at the box office, but the word-of-mouth was far inferior to the animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," which later returned to the original Spider-Man image.

In fact, when Stan Lee created the character of Spider-Man, he specifically emphasized various events in the character's private life, and achieved an effect similar to ordinary people but extraordinary, which is the charm of Peter Parker.

And this point, "purist" Sam Raimi also deeply understood the essence, not only was it shown in the "Spider-Man" he directed, but also won the unanimous recognition of the audience. This superhero story focusing on the growth troubles of high school students is still a leader in similar films even twenty years later.

Looking back at the "Spider-Man" movies of his previous life, Anson remembered that when Peter Parker first got superpowers, he didn't think about becoming a hero. He just wanted to earn a little money. It wasn't until his own mistake indirectly led to his uncle's death that he embarked on the path of fighting crime.

Peter Parker's youth, recklessness, impulsiveness, and simplicity—these high school traits precisely gave this character an unparalleled unique temperament. He makes mistakes like ordinary people, he needs to grow up like adolescent children, and he has many advantages and disadvantages like every high school student, writing his own life in a stumbling manner.

Perhaps this was Anson's breakthrough.

Moreover, the character of Michael in "The Princess Diaries" could also bring inspiration.

They are both high school students with different temperaments and different hobbies, but they both yearn to grow up. The biggest difference between the two characters is that Michael doesn't have the opportunity to show himself. He needs to revolve around Mia, while Peter Parker has his own space.

This meant that Anson could unleash his talents in the character's space.

So, what kind of high school student was Peter Parker?

For the audience, they were used to Peter Parker as Spider-Man, but before he got superpowers, he was just an ordinary high school student.

Does this sentence sound familiar?

Mia, Mia in "The Princess Diaries," was also an ordinary high school student, like a transparent person, before she learned that she had a queen grandmother.

Anson remembered that Peter Parker was also a nerd who was ostracized, ridiculed, and teased by his classmates, so he could learn some experience from Mia.

Nerd, bookworm, geek.

But obviously, Peter Parker and Michael were different types of nerds. Peter Parker liked photography and provided photos for the school newspaper; he liked natural sciences and also had some interest in biotechnology.

So, Peter Parker liked to read, but the type of books was different from Michael's.

Little by little, Anson conceived a brand-new image in his mind. He was not Tobey Maguire. If he wanted to win this role, he couldn't simply imitate Tobey Maguire. Otherwise, he would only use his performance to prove that Tobey was the best choice. He needed to have his own color.

Anson looked up at Edgar, revealing a smile, "I have an idea. How much time do we have before the audition?"

"Two hours." Edgar couldn't keep up with the rhythm, and a pile of question marks flowed in his eyes. "What are you going to do?"

First update.