Ultimatizing it.

What's that? Discussing the Homecoming supporting cast? How did this can of worms get here? The central problem I have with it is that the supporting cast is written like a bad RPG writer who shoehorns references even when they don't fit, just to sneak an established name in there. (Hey, that kettle over there looks pretty black; maybe I should say something...)

Seriously, though. Ned is just Ganke. But they didn't want to use the name Ganke, so eh, just take a name from elsewhere in the supporting cast gallery. Who cares? (Hint: this guy.) Michelle is a fine character, but there's no reason to call her MJ; even if you try to walk it back and pretend it was just a wink. If Flash Thompson is going to share absolutely nothing in common with his comic counterpart except that they're both dicks to Peter, then why not give him his own identity? Even the little girl on the morning show has to be called Betty Brandt, even that though defies all logic. (Sure, I'm splitting hairs on that one, but it's a symptom of the "disease.")

There's an almost pathological fear in inventing new characters, even though characters created outside the comic pages have sometimes done just fine for themselves. Harley Quinn, to name the obvious one. Phil Coulson, to stick within the MCU.

I dunno, I don’t think they’re dated if they work. Spider-Man (Peter, specifically) has probably the best supporting cast in comics, and I think the MCU kinda fudged themselves by trying to shove them aside and give us new, much lesser alternatives.

I dunno, I don’t think they’re dated if they work. Spider-Man (Peter, specifically) has probably the best supporting cast in comics, and I think the MCU kinda fudged themselves by trying to shove them aside and give us new, much lesser alternatives.

<Snipped quote by GreenGrenade>

A good deal about what made Spider-Man such a hit was how relatable he was. Stan Lee said he created Peter Parker because he wanted a character for his young reader-base to identify with.

Obviously, Spidey is such a well written character with such a colorful supporting cast and rogues gallery that relatability isn't necessary to make his movies engaging and interesting. But him being a teenager is the core appeal. And modern day teenagers (most of them) don't live in a world with Raimi or even Webb's versions of Flash Thompson. They're caricatures of the often violent and insane bullies we saw in older films in the eighties and early nineties. It's hard to pull that off and expect a modern, young audience to be pulled in like your older viewers would be.

I'm not saying the reboot was necessarily successful- but the idea behind it isn't wholly without merit.

<Snipped quote by GreenGrenade>

A good deal about what made Spider-Man such a hit was how relatable he was. Stan Lee said he created Peter Parker because he wanted a character for his young reader-base to identify with.

Obviously, Spidey is such a well written character with such a colorful supporting cast and rogues gallery that relatability isn't necessary to make his movies engaging and interesting. But him being a teenager is the core appeal. And modern day teenagers (most of them) don't live in a world with Raimi or even Webb's versions of Flash Thompson. They're caricatures of the often violent and insane bullies we saw in older films in the eighties and early nineties. It's hard to pull that off and expect a modern, young audience to be pulled in like your older viewers would be.

I'm not saying the reboot was necessarily successful- but the idea behind it isn't wholly without merit.

<Snipped quote by Superboy>

The idea behind it may not be without merit, but there are still plenty of athletic, attractive assholes in high school. There comes a point where reimagining a character crosses a line to "This is a totally different idea, but we need a recognizable name, so shoehorn it in." That's all my original point was. And I get what you're saying that you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater; but if you're finding yourself stretching the adaptations so far that you are rewriting the supporting cast wholesale... shouldn't you ask yourself if you really want to be doing an adaptation at all?

<Snipped quote by Superboy>
Yeah, I’m not gonna deny that. But there’s ways to do a more relatable Flash without turning him into something he’s not. The thing that never made sense to me about the guy is why, after seeing all the shit he’s put Peter through, and then watching Peter grieve for his uncle who got murdered, he insists on still being an asshole. That’s why I have to give points to Webb’s Flash – after Ben died, he showed remorse. That’s how you can update Flash, I think – show him as remorseful, realising that he treated Peter badly, and trying to make up for it in his own bullheaded way (all while Peter is, understandably, reluctant and abrasive). Bullies aren’t just bullies, y’know?

I will say, though, that while on an emotional level it will always bother me if they don't bring back "With great power...", intellectually I do love watching them squirm, right? So we had:

Raimi: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Then:

Webb: "Your father believed that if you could do something to help people, it was your duty to do those things."

And then:

MCU: "Because when you can do things I can, and you don't? And then the bad things happen? They happen because of you."

So I can only assume the next reboot will be something like: "Wherefore as a person or persons is possessed of some unique capabilities, and being so possessed has the agency with which to enact change, they should and must then comport themselves in a manner displaying all due responsibility of such a station."

I honestly did not mind and don't find any of what's being brought up about Homecoming to be annoying.

<snipped>

@Inkarnate

I like Michelle Jones. Don't @ me.

3.) Flash Thompson: Now, this is the controversial one because you either think the update makes sense or it doesn't. And I'm not really going to rehash the discussion we've already been having vis-a-vis that particular point. But what I will say in response to @Master Bruce's post is that his issue with jock-Flash seems to be that he's a flat character... is that really the character's fault, though, or is it unimaginative writers squandering the potential there? The fact that jock-Flash has such a big following certainly attests to the fact that in the right hands, he can be just as compelling as anyone else in the supporting cast. We just haven't seen it, and now that we have nerd-Flash we probably won't for a long, long time. (Hence the sore spot.)