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Toonami Absolution · Friday · 33 min

57-3 - Spider-Man (2002)

Peter Parker gets bitten by a spider on a school trip. His uncle dies because he made a selfish decision. He becomes Spider-Man. Sam Raimi makes one of the most important superhero films ever made. Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Spider-Man (2002), Sam Raimi's landmark adaptation starring Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe, the film that proved superhero movies could be box office juggernauts while also being genuinely emotional. Peter Parker is a nerdy high school student in Queens who gets bitten by a genetically modified spider during a class trip to Oscorp. He gains wall-crawling, spider-strength, and a web-shooting ability. He briefly uses his powers for money, which leads directly to the murder of his Uncle Ben, which leads to him taking a different path. Meanwhile Norman Osborn, Oscorp's CEO, tests an unstable performance enhancer on himself, fractures his own mind, and becomes the Green Goblin. The two end up on a collision course that goes through the World Unity Festival, a burning building, Aunt May's house, and the Queensboro Bridge, where Goblin forces Spider-Man to choose between saving MJ and a tram car full of children. J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson is a perfect piece of casting. The upside-down kiss is iconic. The film made $114 million in its opening weekend, the first film ever to cross $100 million in a single weekend, and the superhero genre was never the same. We discuss what Raimi gets definitively right, Willem Dafoe's physical performance inside the Goblin suit, and where this sits in the context of everything that came before and after it in the superhero film landscape. 🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami, Adult Swim’s greatest hits! **** Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you. From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball. **** See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Peter Parker gets bitten by a spider on a school trip. His uncle dies because he made a selfish decision. He becomes Spider-Man. Sam Raimi makes one of the most important superhero films ever made.


Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Spider-Man (2002), Sam Raimi's landmark adaptation starring Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe, the film that proved superhero movies could be box office juggernauts while also being genuinely emotional.


Peter Parker is a nerdy high school student in Queens who gets bitten by a genetically modified spider during a class trip to Oscorp. He gains wall-crawling, spider-strength, and a web-shooting ability. He briefly uses his powers for money, which leads directly to the murder of his Uncle Ben, which leads to him taking a different path. Meanwhile Norman Osborn, Oscorp's CEO, tests an unstable performance enhancer on himself, fractures his own mind, and becomes the Green Goblin.


The two end up on a collision course that goes through the World Unity Festival, a burning building, Aunt May's house, and the Queensboro Bridge, where Goblin forces Spider-Man to choose between saving MJ and a tram car full of children.

J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson is a perfect piece of casting. The upside-down kiss is iconic. The film made $114 million in its opening weekend, the first film ever to cross $100 million in a single weekend, and the superhero genre was never the same.


We discuss what Raimi gets definitively right, Willem Dafoe's physical performance inside the Goblin suit, and where this sits in the context of everything that came before and after it in the superhero film landscape.


🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami, Adult Swim’s greatest hits!


****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.


From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.


****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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