Tom DeFalco nous parle un peu du nouveau look de Spider-Girl, mais aussi de Lady Octopus et d’autres encore.
On peut aussi voir des images de May portant le costume noir et blanc imitant celui du symbiote et une image de la “Bouffonne Verte” par ici.
Et oui, Mark Millar a donné une interview exclusive à newsarama ou il nous parle de Venom ainsi que du nouveau personnage qui est si mystérieux.
“Villain-wise, he’s run through most of the majors so far in his Marvel Knights Spider-Man run, and this week, Mark Millar gets his hands on Eddie Brock, aka Venom, aka, the guy that inherited Spider-Man symbiotic alien suit, and that Todd McFarlane drew with a tongue that was…well, headed towards the nasty tentacle manga.
Issue #5, the start of the four-part “Venomous” arc (Act 2 in Millar’s overall year-long story arc) also allows the regular art team of Terry and Rachel Dodson to take a breather, as Frank Cho steps in for the issue, as well as the wrap of the arc with issue #8.
We caught up with Millar to talk about the arc, Venom, and the overall direction of the series and arc.”
Newsarama: So let’s hit the ground running – how does Venom enter into the story this time? Usually, there’s a pretty good – okay, sometimes not so good – okay, sometimes totally transparent marketing ploy when Venom shows. What category does your Eddie Brock/Venom appearance fall into?
Mark Millar: It’s probably a combination of all three. I’m trying to write the most interesting and far-reaching Spider-Man story I can and have an idea that basically revamps all his major villains. I didn’t grow up with Venom, but I appreciate how intrinsic he’s become to Spider-Man mythology. Even Sam [Raimi] is talking about using him in Spider-Man 3 and elevating him to household name status. I have more of a fondness for the Ditko villains.
NRAMA: That said though, how did you get your hooks into him, creatively, to make him interesting enough for you to care about him, at least for his appearances in the three issues?
MM: Well, the Evil Duplicate idea is always surprisingly resonant. He’s a very simple, visually appealing idea and the affection kids in particular have for him proves to me that having this big, epic Spider-Man story without one of his Big Three villains would feel a little hollow. I also came up with a take on him that I particularly liked. I thought of ways he could move and fight we haven’t really seen before, but the actual hook that brings him into the story allows me to explore the super-villain subculture in a way that hasn’t really been touched upon very much.
The villains always really interest me and, as I write issue nine of this series and look back at the earlier issues, I can see that revamping the villains has been a subconscious objective. Spider-Man has a great Rogues Gallery and yet I’ve seen so many stories – especially through the ‘90s – where they were portrayed as goofy or funny. They never seemed funny to me at all. Ditko and Lee really instilled some of that Astonishing Tales kind of creepiness in these characters and I wanted to get back to that. I wanted to make Electro, The Vulture and The Owl all big players and all serious threats. This arc focuses a little more on Green Goblin again and Doctor Octopus to some extent, but Venom really takes centre stage in the middle act.
NRAMA: Speaking of all the various villains, you’ve been running through them wholesale in a fairly logical manner, as Spider-Man thinks, or is lead to think that they may have something to do with Aunt May’s disappearance, or, in the case of the Vulture, swooping in at his moment of weakness. How is Venom tied into all of that?
MM: Well, I really see this story-line as a weighty twelve issue in three acts. The plot becomes increasingly complex as the series progresses and absolutely nothing has been done that doesn’t tie together with upcoming scenes or lines in the upcoming acts. In terms of plotting, it’s the most complex thing I’ve ever attempted and I’m honestly lying in bed at night unable to stop thinking about it. Pretty much every villain you can imagine gets a little screen-time in this first year and the plots and characters introduced in “Down Among the Dead Men” (Act One) slip into the background a little as we continue the main through-line, but bring Eddie Brock into the mix for Act Two and “Venomous.”
At the end of issue five, we’re given hints that someone or something has been doing ‘tests’ on Spider-Man’s villains and what started as a small, personal vendetta might actually be bigger and more far-reaching than we initially thought. Also, Venom seems to have been brought into the story by a third party who’s playing on the fact that he doesn’t want to be Venom anymore.
NRAMA: So this does tie-in to what’s been going on with the character elsewhere?
MM: Right. His last few outings – in Spectacular Spider-Man and other places – has seen a real resignation to Eddie Brock as opposed to the spitting Venom that his character had when he started. He’s matured and the fight just seems to have gone out of him. I like the fact that he’s a basically decent guy and openly religious and so I based his story a bit on the serial killer in Germany who handed himself over to the police and confessed everything after watching Mel Gibson’s The Passion. Paul [Jenkins] introduced the notion that Eddie had cancer and the symbiote was the only thing keeping him alive. Well, after seeing The Passion, Eddie decides that the cancer was really God’s judgment on the way he lived his life and he wants this black, sticky thing exorcised from his heart. He wants to die.
NRAMA: Does that mean a new Venom?
MM: Possibly.
NRAMA: Stepping back for a moment, let’s continue about Eddie Brock – who is he in your hands?
MM: Eddie Brock always struck me as a good guy gone bad. He only really had a problem with Spider-Man and so his redemption isn’t really that hard to swallow. The symbiote, on the other hand, should be terrifying. I really see this thing as almost satanic and we have a lot of fun with the character in this arc. He’s lurking between the panels for the first half and then all Hell breaks loose. The fight between Spidey and Venom is issue #8 is being drawn by Cho right now and it looks absolutely stunning. Frank has done issues #5 and #8 and Terry and Rachel are drawing issues #6 and #7. It’s the best work I’ve ever seen from either of them. Terry, by the way, will be drawing the concluding act. This is called “The Last Stand” and it runs for issues #9 through #12.
NRAMA: Alright – along the storyline then, Venom shows up in issue #5, but the cover of issue #6 shows Spider-Man and the X-Men. How is one thing related to another? Spidey looks for
help from people he hasn’t pissed off recently?
MM: The thing I really wanted to explore here is what superheroes do when they have a problem. Spider-Man has always been really big on keeping his identity a secret. His Aunt May and Mary-Jane are the two people he’s closest to in the world and yet they both only found out relatively recently so we’re really not in a Reed Richards situation. Someone figuring out who he is was the reason Gwen Stacy died. If his identity had stayed a secret from Osborn Peter would be married to Gwen right now and Kirsten Dunst would have paid ten bucks to see the movie just like the rest of us. For this reason, someone discovering his secret ID has enormous psychological ramifications for him and the villains knows it. That’s why they’re dragging this out and why all these other stories in the individual acts are coming into play.
What I have here is really three Spider-Man arcs, but they’ve been woven carefully into the mix and by act three you’ll really see how they all work together. Issue #9 is a real eye-opener. This is the issue where we find out what really happened to Aunt May and why. It’s also going to have huge ramifications on Spider-Man’s villains and, without destroying anything, make you think differently about almost every issue from, say, around the middle of the Ditko run on the title.
NRAMA: And so…the X-Men?
MM: Anyway, like I was saying, this is a story about what superheroes do when they’re in trouble. Who do they turn to? The Avengers can’t help without him saying who he is. The FF can’t find her. SHIELD can’t find her. And so he decides to visit one of the X-Men’s psychics and see what they can figure out. But I wanted to make Peter very isolated. He’s a loner. He solves problems– and makes mistakes– by himself. Even when he gets help from other people it usually doesn’t work out. This isn’t a team-up or anything. You don’t have a spread of Spidey swinging alongside a charging gang of X-Men saying “Okay, guys, let’s go find Aunt May.” That works well for the more 2D characters like the JLA where everything is primary-colored, but Peter’s always been done realistically and I just wanted to put myself in his shoes. Aunt May has been the most important part of his life since his parents died. He’s going to be at the end of his tether.
NRAMA: Fair enough, Back to Venom – the solicits for issue #7 show a costume design for Venom – full on eight eyes and a new facial design. Your idea or was Terry or Frank bored with the old look?
MM: You’ll see when you read the issue. I don’t want to give too much away, but we had to redesign Venom a little for this story-line.
NRAMA: Does Venom bring any friends into the mix, or is it just him?
MM: We only get a quick look at Eddie in issue #5, but it all comes together in issue #6. I think this and issue seven pretty much feature every villain Spider-Man has ever fought in forty years. This was a huge amount of work because, since the book is in-continuity, we had to find out who was out of prison, what they looked like now, who died in a 1994 mini-series we hadn’t read and so on. The guys at Spiderfan have been an invaluable help on all this. We’ve got this all just so bloody watertight. I think a character like Spider-Man, with such a rich history, needs to have that history respected. I know it’s been fashionable to say that continuity doesn’t matter, but for Spider-Man it really does matter because so many people have invested in those story-lines and a living, breathing world has been created here. Besides, continuity can really work to your advantage to. The fact that the Goblin had never been thrown in jail before or made as public as he’s being done now really is a massive part of this series. Nothing has happened here by accident.
NRAMA: Speaking of the art for a minute…you’ve got Frank and Terry at your disposal on this series, and what do you have them draw – no, not hot chicks, but an ooey, gooey
bad guy who’s looking to put the hurt on Spider-Man. What is wrong with you, anyway?
MM: Doesn’t everybody get their wife to dress up as Venom?
NRAMA: Something you want to confess?
MM: Not now, no.
NRAMA: Okay then. So far, the fan response to the storyline has been…kind of
mixed. Any thoughts as to why the story you and Terry (and Frank) are telling may not be everyone’s cuppa?
MM: For the most part it’s actually been very good. X-Fan and all the other main review sites have given the issues Very Good to Excellent every month and we’ve been pretty consistently the number one or number two book over at Herorealm. The first issue was probably the most widely praised thing I’ve ever worked on. I don’t think I saw a single review that wasn’t weirdly glowing. Even the guys who hate me like aintitcool were tossing platitudes so overall the reaction has been great, but that Avengers scene just killed it for some people. I spoke to Stan recently and we talked about how Spidey was always the perennial outsider and uncomfortable around other superheroes and that’s what the scene was all about, but that scene alone seemed to send a few people off screaming and turned them against the book.
Most reviews have been really good, but the guys who hate it hate it really loudly and that’s naturally a bit of a pain. It’s their right, of course, but it’s an unusual take on a character that’s very well known and that’s never going to be 100% easy. I have a very particular vision for this book and that won’t be to everyone’s taste. Fortunately, the people who love it really love it and that seems to be the long-time Spider-Man fans in particular. They’re really who this book is aimed at. I think, as the issues progress, even the guys who don’t like it will see what I’m doing and get into it. This first year, as I keep saying, is a very ambitious plan. I really love Spider-Man and came into this wanting to write one of those stories you can stick on your shelf with the best of them.
NRAMA: Right – you recently said that about your upcoming run on Wolverine…
MM: I honestly approach every project I do with that attitude. I try, to the best of my abilities, to give people the best Spider-Man or the best Wolverine or the best Superman story they’ve read. I think coming into a project with any less intention is cheating people out of money. I feel that same electricity with this plot that I felt when I was emailing off Red Son. I hope and pray this is one for posterity because there’s a huge amount of love behind it. That said, I’ll never actually read it once it comes out. I was reading an interview with Woody Allen this morning in The Observer and he says the same thing. I honestly think about these stories when I’m having breakfast, when I’m watching a movie or when someone is even talking to me. I obsess over a project while I’m working on it and read it over again and again to the point where I can’t do anything else and then I send it to the editor. From that point on, I never look at it again. I’ve never re-read any issues of The Ultimates. I’ve never re-read any issues of The Authority, Red Son, Superman Adventures, Swamp Thing or anything I’ve done in the past. Even Wanted and Chosen and The Unfunnies are still lying in their comp boxes. I look at the artwork – because the art is eighty per cent of it to me and I work with the artists I most admire, but I can never actually read the comics because, as Woody Allen says, all you can see are the bits and pieces you would do a different, better way with the benefit of four months hindsight.
I don’t say this with any false modesty. I’m also very aware that my work is fortunate enough to find its way into the homes of a huge number of people. My Marvel works sells very, very well and even my little creator-owned projects – originally written for fun – have ended up selling better than some X-Men and Spider-Man books and are now being bought as movies and games. I’m enormously grateful for this and it’s bringing me a lot of good luck, but I’ve never been one to swallow my own press. I think a few people make this mistake and they’ll be very disappointed when the clapping stops. Because it will. It has to, especially for the guys who’ve been doing it longer than me and it’s going to be very painful if you believe all the good stuff people write about you.
Alan Moore told me he’s never read a single thing he’s ever written once he’s sent it away. I just write the stories that are in my head in the hope that one day I’ll write the perfect comic. I’m always amazed to see people saying they can fire out stories and find it easy. The only thing your body can fire out easily is diarrhea and I want my comics to be a little better than that. I find it difficult, but I think that’s a positive thing because it means you’ll always try your best to make whatever you’re working on better than the last
NRAMA: Speaking of making things better than the last, “Venomous” wraps in #8. You’re close to running out of villains…what’s coming next?
MM: Act Three, starting in issue nine, pulls everything together. Aunt May disappeared in issue one and there’s been no phone calls and very little clues – except a couple in issue six. This didn’t happen by accident. Someone is sitting in the background and wearing Spider-Man down and down until the point where he/she/they come forward and explain everything in issue nine and what this has all been about. We get some more clues through Venomous, of course, but this is also an almost self-contained story. Issue eight probably has the best, most Spider-Man-like scene I’ve ever written. I wanted to play around with the usual Spider-Man lore like the love triangle with two cute girls, the Bugle offering five million dollars for the name of the guy behind the torn mask, Peter’s money problems, etc, and do them all in a whole new way. However, there’s a little scene at the conclusion to issue eight that just had me so pleased I switched off the computer and took the afternoon off after I completed it. Now if I’m hit by a bus and I can die happily knowing that I’ve written a perfect little Spider-Man moment.
Issue #9, the issue I’m writing right now, has a real weight because even the very small appearances throughout the series so far really come into force and we kick off with a flashback to Peter as a little kid, crying up in his room. We often forget that Peter really was the weediest kid in school prior to getting bitten by the spider and I’ve got this scene where he’s sitting in his bed in his pajamas and crying and Uncle Ben comes in and asks him what’s wrong. Has Flash been bullying him again, etc? He just sits there and won’t say anything, but eventually confesses that he’s just noticed how Ben and May are thirty years older than everyone else’s parents and he’s only just realized that they’re going to die long before everyone’s else’s parents, leaving him alone again. Ben consoles him and promises they aren’t going anywhere and nothing bad will ever happen to him and we’re left with this horrible, ominous feeling. Pretty much everybody Peter has ever loved– from Gwen to Ben to Harry to his Mom and Dad– and now possibly May have been killed prematurely.
That’s the theme behind Act Three and the drive that makes Spider-Man do something we might not have considered he would do before. I’m really pushing a lot of buttons with the final act and both the mystery and the twist is a good one.
I think people are going to dig it.
Dvdrama propose une interview très intéressante (en français en plus) de toute l’équipe du film.
DVDRAMA:
Ambiance plus que sympathique dans ce salon d’un plaza de Paris le Vendredi précédant la sortie de Spider-Man 2 sur les écrans français. Après une présentation la veille au public parisien de leur nouveau film, Sam Raimi (réalisateur), Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man lui même), et Avi Arad se sont réunis pour répondre aux questions de quelques journalistes de la presse DVD.
Il est midi, Avi Arad, pas très bien réveillé, est le premier présent.
Comment avez vous choisi Sam Rami pour réaliser les films Spider-Man ?
Avi Arad : La plupart du temps lorsque vous commencez à travailler sur un film, le plus dur est de trouver le réalisateur adéquat. Parfois vous allez voir des réalisateurs en fonction de votre script, et parfois vous allez voir des réalisateurs sans avoir de script pour évaluer leur vision du film. J’ai dû voir 5-6 réalisateurs pour Spider-Man. Et je vous avoue que Sam était le dernier
(rires)
Qui étaient les autres ?
Avi Arad : Je n’ai pas le droit de vous le dire, ce ne serait pas sympa pour eux. Mais c’était les “Usual Suspects”, les cinq-six réalisateurs que l’on va voir en général pour des films de cette envergure. C’est une attitude des studios qui commence heureusement à changer
Ils réalisent que le plus important est de trouver des réalisateurs “frais” qui ont une vision unique, qui ont une passion pour les personnages. Sam était clairement l’homme de la situation.
Sam Raimi : Tu as l’air en forme Avi
Avi Arad : Crois moi, j’ai l’air plus en forme que je ne le suis
(rires)
Sam Raimi : (s’adressant à nous) Nous étions à une soirée hier, à boire et faire la fête avec tout le monde. Je rentre ensuite à mon hôtel et mon frère m’attendait et me dit “Ok, au travail !”
Avi Arad : Non ? Pourtant nous avions dit que nous ne commencerions pas avant d’être à Londres
SR : Je sais
Vous travaillez sur quoi ??
SR : La suite de l’histoire
celle de Spider-Man 3.
Déjà ?
Sam Raimi soupire, visiblement fatigué, et sourit.
Et vous avez une idée du méchant qu’affrontera Spider-Man ?
SR : Pas encore. Je dois encore en parler avec Avi et notre autre producteur Laura. Mais nous travaillons sur plusieurs pistes. Notre problème pour le moment est de savoir exactement où se trouve Peter là où nous l’avons laissé à la fin du 2, et ce qu’il deviendra dans le troisième. Il nous faut rentrer dans sa tête et deviner ce qu’il voudrait maintenant dans sa vie, savoir à quels problèmes il va se confronter en devenant adulte. Et seulement à partir de ces points, nous pourrons trouver le meilleur méchant de Marvel pour illustrer ces conflits…
Mais après vous aurez toujours un Avi Arad qui vous dira “Prend Doc Ock qu’on en finisse” (NDLR/ référence au refus de Sam Raimi après le tournage de Spider-Man 1 d’avoir Doc Ock dans Spider-Man 2).
Spider-Man 3 s’annonce comme la revanche de James Franco
SR : Oui c’est une possibilité !… Mais en voici une autre : maintenant qu’il sait que son père était le Bouffon Vert, il pourrait comprendre pourquoi Spider-Man a du le tuer
Et peut-être maintenant en a-t-il fini avec cette histoire de vengeance, et va-t-il faire la paix avec son ami… Pourquoi pas ? (grand sourire)
Vous choisiriez à nouveau un méchant avec un masque comme pour le Bouffon Vert ? Ou un sans masque comme Doc Ock ?…
SR : Avi et moi n’en avons pas encore réellement discuté, mais nous sommes au moins tombé d’accord sur l’idée que le masque posait une réelle difficulté.
AA : Je pense que le Bouffon était réellement difficile à adapter. Car si vous regardez dans le comics, il ressemble à un homme en costume d’Halloween. C’était un costume très simple qui ne reflétait pas du tout sa personnalité, comme si on lui avait juste posé un sac sur la tête. C’était donc un véritable challenge de le faire ressembler à quelque chose.
Quelle était le plus gros challenge pour vous sur Spider-Man 2 ?
SR : Sur Spider-Man 2, je dirais que développer le personnage de Doc Ock était le plus difficile
(se reprenant) Non : en fait le scénario était de loin la phase la plus dur.
AA : En effet, il a fallu écrire de très nombreuses versions
ce fut un processus long et pénible de trouver la bonne.
SR : Avi, moi et Laura avions tout de même la chance d’être entourés de nombreux scénaristes. Tout le monde a participé et est arrivé avec un bon nombre d’idées fantastiques. Il n’y avait pas qu’un seul scénariste et
Arrivée de Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire : Vous vous êtes enfin arrêté d’écrire ?..
SR : Non ! Figure toi que hier soir en rentrant dans ma chambre
TM : Je veux dire là, tout de suite ! (rires) Je sais très bien ce qui s’est passé hier soir
SR : (rires) En fait Tobey et moi voulons faire pour Spider-Man 3 un buddy-movie, où nous serions tout les deux les super-héros.
AA : Et moi je joue le méchant producteur.(rires)
(se reprenant) Deux choses au sujet du script de Spider-Man 2. La première, nous n’avions pas assez de temps. Faire un tel film en deux ans, c’est de la folie, c’est trop. La seconde est que nous avions en effet beaucoup de scénaristes, tous très doués.
SR : Mais je pense qu’avec les films Spider-Man cela ne pose aucun problème d’avoir autant de scénaristes, c’est même un avantage. Spider-Man a été brillamment crée par Stan Lee, et développé par les scénaristes de Marvel durant quarante années. Mais le personnage ne lui appartient plus : il appartient au public, c’est un héros international. C’est comme si Stan l’avait perdu, et que tout les enfants se l’étaient appropriés, que tout les scénaristes se l’étaient appropriés.
(se tournant vers Tobey Maguire)
et que vous monsieur bien sûr vous l’êtes approprié.
Il n’y avait pas trop de pressions des fans sur Spider-Man 2 ? Sur le premier beaucoup disaient que vous aviez pris trop de liberté par rapport au comics, et le second semble bien plus fidèle.
SR : Vous trouvez ? Nous avons en effet utilisé sur le premier des éléments de plusieurs comic-books et non juste un
AA : Je pense principalement sur le premier que les fans ont reproché à Mary Jane de trop ressembler à Gwen Stacy. Nous avions consciencieusement mélangé les deux personnages. Mary Jane est intéressante car elle est là tout le long des comics, Gwen ne fait que passer dans l’histoire et puis meurt
Mais peut-être reviendrons-nous à elle, car c’est un personnage très intéressant tout de même
Beaucoup de jeunes ont identifié leurs histoires d’amour tragique à celle de Gwen Stacy.
SR : Stan Lee m’avait dit quelque chose de très intéressant à propos de Gwen Stacy : le plus intense chez elle, est son absence. Sa mort entraîne par la suite beaucoup de souvenirs douloureux… Car dans le fond lorsqu’elle est présente ce n’est pas un personnage aussi riche que Mary Jane.
Vous pensez introduire un nouveau personnage, une nouvelle petite amie à Peter Parker dans le 3 ?… Comme Blackcat (La Chatte Noire)…
AA : (silence) C’est une excellente question
SR : Je pense qu’il sera très difficile de trouver une actrice qui soit attirée par Tobey et crédible en même temps.
(rires généraux)
TM : … il faudra en effet trouver une excellente actrice …
AA : beaucoup d’entre nous aiment BlackCat énormément…
TM : (rires) “beaucoup d’entre nous” veut dire en fait “Avi”
AA : oh mais Sam l’aime aussi beaucoup…
SR : Tout à fait
AA : Mais il y a tellement de personnages que nous pourrions mettre dans les films… il faut bien choisir. Et il n’était pas encore temps d’introduire Blackcat dans l’histoire…
SM : (silence) oui. (silence). En fait nous en avions pas mal parlé…
TM : de mettre Blackcat dans Spider-Man 2 …?…
SR : …oui.
TM : (se tournant à nouveau vers nous) … je connaissais la réponse à cette question, mais je voulais clarifier la situation !
C’était une plus grosse responsabilité de jouer Spider-Man cette fois que la première ? Ou un plus grand plaisir ?..
TM : C’était plus simple. J’ai même l’impression d’avoir cédé à la facilité. Ayant déjà le premier film comme préparation, je connaissais déjà le personnage, je connaissais ses relations aux autres personnages, et j’ai même eu plus de facilités à faire mes quelques cascades même si elles étaient plus compliquées que sur le premier. Nous étions tous plus confiant. Et ayant déjà travaillé avec pratiquement la même équipe sur le premier, j’avais déjà fait mes preuves et en me rendant sur le plateau de Spider-man 2, je me rendais presque “juste au travail”. Non pas que les gens doutaient de moi, mais il fallait que je me prouve à moi même que je pouvais apporter le travail nécessaire pour tenir le rôle sur le premier.
SR : J’ai vu les acteurs du premier épisode travailler totalement différemment sur ce second épisode. Sur le tournage, le temps de préparation nécessaire sur le premier film était plus consacré ici à discuter sur leur approche des relations entre les personnages. Ils ont put ici considérablement approfondir les relations entre les personnages. Cela leur arrivait de corriger ce qui était écrit dans le scénario, et ils avaient toujours raison.
TM : C’était aussi assez facile de travailler dans cette direction, car nous partions d’un excellent script. J’aime beaucoup le premier film, mais là nous sommes allez beaucoup plus loin, c’était encore plus facile. Et ce type là (désignant Sam Raimi) a le travail le plus dur au monde. Il a réalisé un film qui devait équilibrer de la comédie, du drame, de l’histoire d’amour, de l’action, des personnages qui évoluent, tout ça pour un blockbuster d’été qui ne laisse pas indifférent les spectateurs et n’insulte pas leur intelligence. Cela devient une tâche très difficile. J’apprécie que ce soit des réalisateurs qui aiment ce genre de films qui les fasse, comme Sam mais aussi Bryan Singer, Ang Lee, …
Comment avez vous choisi Alfred Molina ? Il n’est pas très habitué à ce genre de gros films…
SR : Mais moi non plus je ne suis pas habitué à ce genre de gros films. Je ne pense pas que ça l’ait beaucoup perturbé sur le moment. Un jour en se baladant il se rendit compte quand même que nous étions sur 12 plateaux gigantesques simultanément… Il était sans doute impressionné par la taille, mais une fois sur le plateau il se focalisait sur son personnage, comme il le fait sur tout les films. Sa concentration devait être énorme car il devait jouer entre autres avec des tentacules qu’il n’avait pas en face de lui. Son travail à moi était presque celui d’un réalisateur de films à base de miniatures, car je préférais lui laisser diriger lui même ses tentacules, me dire si où elles se trouvaient quand il tournait la tête, …
Il s’est retrouvé dans une situation assez unique où son expérience d’acteur l’a beaucoup aidé. Il a vraiment donné vie aux tentacules. C’est son jeu qui a donné vie aux tentacules.
AA : Tout le monde sur ce film vient du milieu “artistique” du métier. Le challenge du studio était de créer les effets spéciaux. Mais les acteurs étaient un peu effrayés de travailler sur un si gros film, l’adaptation d’un comic book en plus, et demandaient des conseils à leurs amis “dois-je le faire, …”. Mais lorsqu’ils regardaient le script ils s’apercevaient qu’il y avait un véritable challenge à relever.
Sur le premier nous avions été jugé comme une adaptation de comic-book. Et on nous a dit que c’était pas mal. Là, sur Spider-man 2, nous allons être jugé comme un “film” à part entière.
TM : Le processus est assez similaire pour un acteur sur ce film. Lorsque l’on s’entend dire “va faire le film sur spider-man”, forcément vous hésitez beaucoup… Il faut être réaliste : la plupart des gros films de l’été ne sont pas très bons. Certains le sont, mais ils ne sont de loin pas majoritaires. Donc j’ai avant tout pensé à refuser. Mais lorsque j’ai entendu que Sam Raimi réaliserait, je me suis demandé pourquoi. Très vite en en discutant avec lui je me suis rendu compte qu’il était porté par le projet. L’importance du scénario et des personnages, l’absence de stylisation du film. J’ai trouvé ça très frais, je pensais que ça ne laisserait pas les gens indifférents. J’ai signé pour trois films ; Sam non. J’avais confiance envers les producteurs Avi Arad et Laura Ziskin, envers le studio Columbia car ils prenaient le risque de confier leur film, et donc leur argent, à Sam Raimi.
SR : Je n’arrive toujours pas à croire que le studio ait fait ça ! (rires)
TM : C’est un choix difficile, mais ils l’ont fait, ce qui prouvait qu’ils avaient opté pour une bonne direction. J’ai donc été plus à l’aise de signer ce contrat de trois films.
AA : Je ne m’inquiétais pas une seule seconde du retour de Sam sur Spider-man 2. Pour le premier film, tout les agents vous appellent pour proposer leurs réalisateurs. C’était d’ailleurs le plus difficile : choisir qui allait porter à l’écran les aventures de ce héros crée par Stan Lee. Il fallait trouver quelqu’un pour qui Spider-Man importait énormément, car cela se ressent après à l’écran. Ensuite si Sam a eu une si bonne expérience à réaliser le premier, pourquoi prendre quelqu’un d’autre sur le second ? Nous avions un contrat, mais ce n’est pas ça qui comptait : la fin du premier film représente assez bien là où en était Sam. Il sentait le poids des responsabilités et devait cesser de vivre sa vie pour les mener à bien (rires).
L’équipe était devenu une famille…
Et qui choisi les acteurs ? Vous Sam Raimi ? Ou l’équipe de production ?…
AA : C’est lui le boss sur toute la ligne.
SR : Je consulte toujours mes producteurs sur chacune de mes décisions.
AA : Mais il aura toujours le dernier mot.
Une question que tout les fans de Sam Raimi se posent. A quand un grand rôle à nouveau pour Bruce Campbell ?
SR : J’adore travailler avec lui. Il me fait rire. Je ne sais pas, peut-être un jour…
Merci beaucoup à DVDRAMA pour cette superbe interview.
Comics Continuum a publié un entretien du producteur Avi Arad, au moment même où sortait le tant attendu Spider-Man 2 sur les écrans d’Outre-Atlantique.
SPIDER-MAN 2’S AVI ARAD
Following is an edited transcription of a roundtable interview conducted recently on the Sony lot.
Question: Why does Spider-Man succeed where some comic-book movies have failed?
Arad: Maybe it’s a better movie. There are a couple of elements. I think Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a unique character that appeals to everybody. I just think I have to give a lot of credit to Sam (Raimi) and Sony. Movies like that today … believe me there are a lot of filmmakers — and you should see some of the scripts — are trying to make the other movies as good as this one. There is a lot of fear out there of emotional investment. I think in some ways they are underestimating the audience. And being afraid to make speeches like, “There is a hero in all of us.” This is probably the thing that we fight the most. We try to tell the studios, “Don’t be afraid of decency and emotion.” You can have all the action, but the action better be driving the story and emotional commitment to something. But it’s difficult. You’ve seen a lot of movies this summer, and I don’t know if you’ve see emotion.
I have to give the studio, Amy (Pascal) and Matt Tolmach, a lot credit. They’re very courageous people. This day and age, you hear Spider-Man and you think wall-to-wall action. Who would have taken 80-year-old Aunt May, a widow, and play her in the way we did?
It’s an incredible team. Alvin Sargent is probably the greatest writer today; his words are unique. Sam is really interested in the emotional makeup, and the studio trusts him, as they should. So we were able to make a better movie.
We all want to make — especially with our movies — (films) that are emotional and personal. Some people are afraid. They’re afraid to make a movie that deals with simples issues, like “Who are you?” and say the kinds of things are true to life. But it seems like, “It’s too emotional. Don’t gush over anything.” It’s an ongoing fight between filmmakers and studios.
Question: Can you talk about the lawsuit between Marvel and Sony?
Arad: That’s Hollywood, you fight and make love on the same afternoon. When you deal with a studio, every studio has two major components. One is production, which is where we live. … These guys we deal with every day, and it’s a lovefest.
Then you have the business end. And in this business, as you know, there are walls between these two worlds. For me, it was a challenge because I have a public company. The thing that made it possible is look at it as a legal separation, but we both love the child. So you do what’s right for the child.
And I knew it was just a matter of time. Lawyers do what lawyers do, God bless ’em.
And I can tell you for not one second — forget what you read, forget what the Internet says — the child was in jeopardy or treated different. Spider-Man was on all our minds at all times. Again, with the production side of the studio, and not for one second could I feel animosity, hostility. And it’s tough. This was a public fight, but we all had on thing on our minds: to deliver this movie the way we did.
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Question: What were the issues of this lawsuit? Was it money?
Arad: What else? You know what, it’s not as simple as that. “What else” is the easy answer. There are issues. There are contracts, life is what it is. There are disputes, there are issues. It’s normal. Because it’s Marvel, Sony and Spider-Man, you heard about it. If it was any other character or anything less than that, it wouldn’t have been an issue.
Question: What was the budget? Can you talk about that?
Arad: No.
Question: Rumor is it was $200 million.
Arad: Well, that’s why we call it rumors and we leave it like that. We don’t talk about budgets. It’s the wrong focus. The question is, whatever it costs, did we make a good movie? That’s the question.
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Question: Was this movie harder than the first one?
Arad: Physically, it was harder because we have very little time to make a movie this size. Physically, it was a tough movie. We were in the coldest days of New York and just as cold days in Chicago. So that was difficult.
But it was easier to make the story. Easier because Tobey (Maguire) is now Peter and Kirsten (Dunst) is now Mary Jane, so the voices were in place. I think the comrdaerie between Laura and Alvin and Sam and myself with the studio, the team was in place. Over the years, you either hate each other or become a family. We are a family. Even in between the movies, we stayed a family. That part made it much easier to deal with the incredible challenges of this movie.
Question: If Tobey Maguire was physically unable to be in the movie, would you have supported recasting? Would you have held up the movie?
Arad: No, we would have supported the recasting. It would have been a tragedy because Tobey is Peter and Peter is Tobey. It was scary. We have to move a little bit, but with the right harnesses and so on, it was actually for him an easier movie.
When you look at the kid, you think what can a harness do? I don’t know if any of you ever sat in a harness. It’s the opposite of a chiropractor. What he tries to do, the harness does the opposite. And he just came off a big action movie. It didn’t look like a big action movie, but there’s a lot of action riding a horse like that. It’s tough. And he’s had a bad back for years.
Question: Why did you call the film Spider-Man 2 when you had talked about Amazing Spider-Man?
Arad: Yeah, we did talk about Amazing Spider-Man. And then we talked about Spidey: No More and then we talked about Spidey: Unmasked. And then we decided that it’s really Spider-Man, the story continued, the real definition of this movie. We added the numeral two to it. That was a long debate, but somehow you had to say to people, “Hey, this is the next one.”
Amazing … I don’t know. What happens if it’s not amazing. I can see the headlines, “It ain’t amazing!” Let you tell us how amazing it is and instead of we tell you.
Arad: No, actually, what we did get here is much better action. As we all got confidence in the franchise, Sam could really do his storyboards in a very ambitious way. I think there are a couple of intense moments, but I don’t think it’s more violent. I rather look at it as action.
Question: Is the action diminished if an audience knows it’s special effects?
Arad: I don’t know, do we have any animated stuff in this movie? It’s mostly physical. I am kidding.
It’s about the total experience. It’s like a good meal. If you end up the train scene, and you feel how can he shoot the webs this way or how did the building fall apart … It didn’t matter if you were going emotionally with him trying to save these people and the people’s reaction was right. Especially at the end, to see that he was vulnerable.
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Question: Sam said he can’t imagine going beyond a third film. Do you see this like a Batman franchise, where you could have different Peter Parkers?
Arad: I really think that the Spider-Man movies are better than the Batman movies. I hope that Sam will have the energy to continue. And if he doesn’t, we’ll have to think about it.
This movie now has a very clear voice. When you see this movie, the same guys we fell in love it, they continue to grow together. Let’s put it this way: I can sleep better knowing we have Sam for the next one. And then we will see if we can twist his arm and get him. Again, it depends, if the story is great, if the script is great and he’s still in love and the team is together, I don’t know … I don’t think today he would commit to movie six, but I think Sam genuinely loves this character and this movie, even more than the first, shows a total understanding of that.
Question: And what about the actors?
Arad: As long as they look young and in shape, why not?
Question: Are they signed?
Arad: For the third one? Yes. For a fourth one? Not yet.
Merci à Austin pour cette info.
Le site Comics Continuum a publié une interview inédite de Tobey Maguire, à quelques heures de la sortie de S-M 2 aux Etats-Unis.
CULVER CITY, Calif. — The Continuum today continues it series of question-and-answer interviews from the Spider-Man 2 press junket with Tobey Maguire, who returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
Following is an edited transcription of a roundtable interview conducted recently on the Sony lot.
Question: Can you talk a little bit about your back problems? Were you really worried you might not be able to do the picture?
Maguire: How long do you want the answer to be? This is the one we’re really interested in, so this one could take up some time.
First of all, this is a back condition I’ve had for three years or four years, on and off. Sometimes it doesn’t bother me really at all, sometimes it might bothers me a little and sometimes a lot. Coming off of Seabiscuit, it was bugging me a lot. Not because of Seabiscuit; I did not injure my back on Seabiscuit. That was a false report. But it was bugging me quite a bit.
I saw the animatics and the storyboards of the stunts that I was to do on this movie. And I was a little concerned about it and felt it was my responsibility to disclose my back discomfort to the studio, to the insurance company and the filmmakers, which I did. They were unstandably concerned. Any of their actions that resulted in that report did not offend me or bother me in anyway. I understood they have a multi-, multi-million dollar investment that they had a start date for and an entire crew hired for and everything was rushing towards a date five weeks away to start this picture. And we were all concerned about it.
Then I went in and with the stunt guys and worked on a few of the stunts to see how I was going to do. After I reported the stuff to them and told them about my conditions, my back started getting better. I told them about it, and within about a week, my back got better than it had been in three years or so.
So it was kind of like much ado about nothing at that point. But it was what it was. I was in and did some of the work with the stunt guys. I was fine. I felt good. I told them I felt good. There was other stuff involved because there was insurances companies involved and whatnot. And then we were good to go.
And I did the film and it didn’t bother me throughout the whole filming. As a matter of fact, it was easier than Seabiscuit and it was easier than Spider-Man 1. Why? I think because having had the experience of doing it before made it easier for me. And the harnesses were better than I wore and the wire rigs were easier for me for some reason, and, I don’t know, my back just wasn’t bothering me.
Question: With all the pressures, was it a pleasure? Or was there trepidation trying to follow it up?
Maguire: No trepdiation. And it was a pleasure for me. None of my feelings had to do with the success of the first movie in terms of making the second movie. It just has nothing to do with it.
What it has to with is that I really love working with Sam Raimi. He is a lot of fun, he’s a funny guy. I just get along with him very well. His sense of humor and mine kind of work together. And, also, he’s very collaborative and very open to me contributing my ideas, which I love and makes me feel like I’m a greater part of the filmmaking process. I like working with all the other people on the show, too, like Kirsten (Dunst) and James (Franco) and Rosemary (Harris) and Laura (Ziskin) and Avi (Arad). And Bill Pope was great.
I like everybody. It’s a good show and it feels like a family situation. There’s not like six of us, or nine of us, that all have the same tattoo, but I really like working with these people. (laughs)
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Question: How do you find that you’ve changed and what does that bring to Peter Parker?
Maguire: I’m not sure how I’ve changed. I’m a few years older and I think I’ve changed a little bit, as one would. I don’t really know; I haven’t thought about it.
Peter Parker is just in a different place in his life. It’s wearing on him being Spider-Man and not having a life of his own. I always thought it was peculiar to me how this kid couldn’t see how he could just have a little balance in his life, and things would be a little better for him. But there are complications to that, which I understand. He doesn’t want to put his loved ones in danger and he also, just being honest with people, at first just causes him pain. Just being around Aunt May is a painful experience because he’s constantly racked with guilt and feelings of responsibility for all the bad things that have happened. He faced that situation and it helped their relationship.
Stuff is just wearing on him and he just wants a life of his own. He wants to have some kind of balance in his life. But he also has these gifts and wants to use them responsibility.
Question: Can you identify with him?
Maguire: I guess. It’s a bit of a stretch. I get really busy and can feel somewhat overwhelmed at time. But my life is not at all like his. I mean, I have friends and family that I am close to. I am an actor.
Question: What’s your take on him losing his powers?
Maguire: It’s psychological and I think it starts to happen because he really doesn’t want it any more. His system’s rejecting it. It’s casuing him so much personal inner turmoil and pain that his system is just rejecting it. And then I think it becomes a conscious choice, and when it becomes a conscious choice, then the powers really go away at that point.
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Question: Wire services are reporting that you’ve said trailers are giving too much away.
Maguire I don’t think I’ve ever said that. Do I want to say it?
Question: OK, in general are trailers giving away too much of movies? Do you think the trailer for this gave too much away?
Maguire: I don’t think that this trailer gives away too much. I think it teases you with a couple of things. You see the thing in the alley and he says, “Spider-Man, no more.” That’s a big plot point that it implies, but there’s no context to it. You don’t really know what’s going on, you don’t know what that means. I think it’s a good tease.
Then when Harry says, “Let’s see who’s beind the mask,” that’s another big (gasp). But you don’t even know if that’s me there. You don’t know anything about that. I’ve had people ask me, “Is that you? Does he see you?” So I think it’s a good teasy thing. It hints to some plot points and it teases. And I’ve had the right questions from people that I would imagine the people who made the trailer wanted people asking.
Question: Kirsten said she definitely does not want to make a fourth movie. Are you dead set against a fourth movie?
Maguire: I don’t know if I would make a statement like that, but I don’t anticipate doing a fourth movie.
…I think three’s probably enough for me, but you never know. If they sent me a script that was better than any other script I’ve ever read and offered me a piece of Sony Corporation. (laughs). Never say never. Sony’s a big company.
Question: There have been reports that in addition to your back it was a money issue and you were renegotiating your contract and you felt it was unfair that that producer got more money than you. What about those reports?
Maguire: That stuff wasn’t true. We were renegotiating, but that stuff was settled before any of the back stuff came up. We were done with that at that point, as far as I remember. Maybe some of the finer points of the deal, but the bigger issues were done. The negotiations were fine. They were negotiations. I was asking for his, they wanted to give me that. Then we finally met somewhere. Normal negations.
Question: Do you find you have paparrazzi and media attention now because of Spider-Man?
Maguire: Yeah, it certainly happens a lot more to the guy who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man than the guy who plays Homer Wells or whatever. It’s just part of the territory, I guess.
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Question: Can you talk a little about Alfred Molina as a foe for Spider-Man?
Maguire: I thought that Alfred did such a great job. I think that the character Doc Ock is a more interesting character cinematically than Green Goblin was. I love Willem (Dafoe) and think he did a great job. But I think Doc Ock is one of the best movie villains ever. Alfred got to play that, which is cool, and he did it extremely well.
You never know what to expect from an actor. I’m a fan of his and I’ve seen him in some movies, and I think he’s a terrific actor. But it’s a very different kind of thing, and I think he did it very well. He gives you those delicision kind of one-liners perfectly and has the right humor and the right kind of sinister thing going on. And he’s also very human and you care about him. And I think that the character is also written that way. And I think that cinematically Doc Ock is just way cooler than the Green Goblin.
Question: Sam said the movie was about the characters. Do you agree and is that why people respond?
Maguire: From my standpoint, it’s all about character. The characters and the relationships, it’s all I think about or all I come to work to do. I think there’s a lot to this movie. I think that it’s very well balanced with character and relationship and action and excitement and all that stuff. I don’t know what attracts somebody to a movie or why you versus you would go see a movie. If you want to see Spider-Man action, or you go to see a love story or you like a little bit of all of it, I don’t what attracts any individual to the film exactly, but it has a great mix and balance of all that stuff, and I think it appeals to a lot of people.
Question: Peter is very frustated in the movie. What are you frustrations?
Maguire: Talking to the media. (laughs) Just kidding. I don’t have any great frustrations, really.
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Question: What was your sense of Sam on this one? It seemed much more like a Sam Raimi movie.
Maguire: In terms of the working experience, it was very similar. You see it more in the work than in working with him. I understand what you’re saying and I think that comes in a lot of ways. He got the experience of doing the first pictures. And even though he got to do a lot of crazy camera stuff in the Evil Deads and very complicated dramatic stuff in A Simple Plan or something like that, this was a different film than he had ever done. Even though he had the perfect training to do the first movie with everything he had done, it was still different. And to take Spider-Man and animate him and get into his movements and try to perfect all that stuff, I think was a learning experience. And he got to use his learning experience from the first picture, apply it to this one, also having more freedom as a filmmaker. He seemed to carry out whatever he imagined with ease.
When I saw this picture, my first reaction after I saw the picture was just, “Sam is a genius!” I love how he makes this movie. I love it. And I told Sam this after I saw the film and he just shrugs it off or whatever.
I said, “Not only is this better than the first movie. This is the best film you’ve ever made.” Evil Deads movies are different; they’re great movies. But I think this, in terms of being a complete movie, is the best movie he’s ever made.
Question: There were a lot of complicated action scenes. Can you recall one scene that was tough for you?
Maguire: The whole train sequence was pretty difficult. The process of shooting that, and I don’t even know how they put it together exactly. I know they started in Chicago, shooting plate shots of the train and that was a few months before we started shooting the picture; we didn’t even have a final draft of the script. But they went all of that stuff and then we finally got to it, I don’t even know how long we shot the train sequence for. It seemed like forever.
PS : Merci à austin pour cette info.