Although James Cameron’s unfinished Spider-Man movie is still legendary, speculations regarding the gritty tone Peter Parker’s first movie under his guidance might have taken have been reignited by concept art that was shown in a book last year.
Chris Evangelista of /Film shared images of Spider-Man concept art from James Cameron’s 2021 art book, Tech Noir: The Art of James Cameron, startling the majority of fans who had never seen them. The Wall Crawler is seen in the first image sporting his customary red-and-blue outfit, albeit much of it is obscured by shadows. His eyes appear to be staring directly at the spectator, giving the image a spooky vibe. The second one seems much more sinister and enigmatic. It appears Spidey donning his black outfit while being entirely shrouded in darkness.
James Cameron’s Version of Spider-Man
What Cameron’s version of Spider-Man might have looked like has been previously explored, with Cameron stating that he “wanted to produce something that had a kind of gritty truth to it.” He went on, “Superheroes, in general, have always struck me as a little fantastical, so I wanted to do something more along the lines of Terminator and Aliens, where you immediately buy into the realism. Therefore, you’re in the real world, not some imagined Gotham City. Or Superman, the Daily Planet, and other shows of that nature, where everything seemed to be extremely symbolic and fairytale-like. It’s New York, as I had intended it to say. Right now.”
The director’s picture was also intended to concentrate on Spider-high Man’s school years, which would have influenced its themes because Cameron regarded the web-abilities spinner as something different. Cameron said, “It was also in my mind a metaphor for puberty and all the changes to your body, your fears about society, about society’s expectations, your interactions with your gender of choice that you’re attracted to, all those things.”
Unfortunately for Cameron, he was unable to persuade 20th Century Fox to purchase the picture rights, thus his luck ran out. The failure of Spider-Man, he admits, “was probably the kick in the ass I needed to simply go develop my own things.” Nevertheless, Spider-Man would ultimately make his way to the big screen in 2002, thanks to a Sony Pictures license and a Sam Raimi-directed film. Over the past 20 years, the franchise has undergone sequels and reboots, with Spider-Man: No Way Home, starring Tom Holland and grossing $121 million on its opening day, being the most recent.
Of course, Avatar: The Way of Water, the much-anticipated sequel to Cameron’s most recent movie, is currently in cinemas.