The Sam Raimi Spider-Man franchise took the web slinger and put him onto the big screen in a HUGE way. While the Blade series may have been the true start to this new era of great comic book films, Spider-Man truly took hold of the idea and brought it to the mass market, and more importantly, all ages. Spider-Man combine good film making with comic books. An idea many people thought was close to impossible to accomplish.
Sam Raimi's run on Spider-Man has come to close after three films, and there's one thing most fans wanted to see but never got: The Lizard as a villain. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. Many people would just say it's fans complaining that their favorite character isn't getting the screen time he or she deserves. With the Spider-Man series, it's much different because the Lizard was set-up in Raimi's run, in depth. Now, with Amazing Spider-Man right around the corner, fans finally get to see the Lizard on the big screen, and the fact of the matter is that the fans deserve it.
Raimi's first Spider-Man film broke all sorts of box office records for its time back in 2002, and with the success of the film came two sequels, which ended up setting up a classic Spider-Man villain: Dr Curt Connors, the man who would become The Lizard.
The role of Curt Connors in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 was played by Dylan Baker. He had smaller parts in each film, but he was a source of knowledge and a potential role model for Peter Parker. Fans clamored for two movies as they saw him on screen, and they patiently waited for Connors to turn into the Lizard, but nothing happened. There were rumors on the net that there would be a fourth Spider-Man film and it would feature Curt Connor's amazing transformation, but obviously, that never happened.
Instead, fans get a reboot, of sorts, of the whole series. This time, Andrew Garfield takes the reigns as Spider-Man, and the villain in the film is none other than the character they've been trying to set up for two movies, the Lizard.
This villain first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man 6, back in 1963, and he is a staple villain in the Spider-Man universe. Lizard has appeared in 50 issues in the Amazing Spider-Man volume alone, as well as countless appearances in Marvel Tales, Spectacular Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, and many other Spidey and non-Spidey books alike.
Why does it matter that the Lizard is the main baddie in this film? Well, he appeals to a wide-variety of fans, from hardcore Spider-Man readers to the occasional Spidey-Fan. On top of that, he's appeared on many of the Spider-Man cartoon series, so many children are very familiar with the character. He appeals to a wider audience than a lot of Spidey's other villains.
On top of that, using Lizard as the main villain can make this more than just your average Spider-Man film. From just the few glimpses fans have seen of the character, there seems to be a horror element present to the character, and in turn, this film. The Lizard isn't a strategic, thinking man's character. He's a beast, a killing machine, and one that will do whatever it takes to reach his goal. The Lizard is a beast, and one that reminds many people of the hundreds of horror films featuring some sort of mutant creating havoc across town. This is not saying this is going to be a straight up horror film, but you can expect to see a few scary moments in this upcoming film.
What's really going to make this the perfect bad guy for fans, and not just because of the fight scenes. Some of the best villains in comics are ones that have a connection to their heroes. While I mentioned that the Lizard is essentially just a brute, the man inside him, Dr Curt Connors, is a mentor to Peter Parker, and someone Peter respects. How do you stop a man you respect that can't control what he's doing? It's going to be pretty awesome to see how this plays out in this film, and more importantly, it's not a jobber villain. It's a character fans deserve to see.
Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Rhys Ifans as Dr Curt Connors, hits theaters everywhere on July 3rd. What do you guys think about the Lizard in the upcoming film?
Mat "InferiorEgo" Elfring is a comedian, writer, and host of a terrible internet show, Barely Watchable. You can also follow him on twitter: @inferiorego