‘Spider-Man’ Director Sam Raimi Says Best Comic Book Movies Draw Directly From Source Material: “Focus On The Character, And Do So Truthfully, It Can Work”
With the pressures of corporate marketing and Hollywood profit-chasing having resulted the current state of comic book movies being more ’embarrassing disaster’ than ‘genuinely entertaining’, original Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi believes that the key to delivering a quality adaptation, whether Batman or Doctor Strange, is for its developers to truly respect the source material they’ve been entrusted with.
His cape-related resume also including 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the esteemed director gave his read on the comic book film scene while stopping by DiscussingFilm on the press circuit for his newly-released horror outing, Send Help.
Asked as to “What do you think needs to happen for us to have a ‘Silver Age’ of comic book movies?”, Raimi opined, “I think whenever the writer and director and producer focus on the character, and do so truthfully, it can work, and it can work great.”
“So many excellent stories,” he added. “I mean these are our heroes, there’s decades of great material in the books that have been written by those bullpens whether DC, or Marvel, or Darkhorse, the material is there waiting for you to bring that character to life.”
Putting a stamp on his thoughts, Raimi ultimately asserted, “I think nothing’s missing, I think they’re on a really good track, and I’m excited to see another really great superhero movie.”
While an admittedly optimistic take on Hollywood’s heroic future all-things considered, the director’s enthusiasm notably comes not from a place of ‘corporate ignorance’, but rather a genuine love for both comic books and their cinematic potential.
During a Send Help press tour stop at MovieWeb, Raimi was asked as to what DC characters, if any, he was interested in adapting to the silver screen – and rather than just offering his picks, he also revealed that he had actually made genuine attempts to adapt two different, albeit thematically-linked heroes:
“I love Batman. I tried to make a Batman film. I couldn’t get the rights. I love The Shadow. I also couldn’t get the rights to that one.But Superman’s always been one of my favorites.”
Further, he once again reiterated his point regarding source material authenticity, telling his MovieWeb hosts, “Yeah, there’s a tremendous amount of DC characters that I love, and it would just take the writers to come up with an original story based on their character, that’s true to the character and part of their real universe, not something that disappoints the fans, but something that’s based on the fans love of the character and brings out the best moment of those characters and their proper conflicts, or the right challenges for the right hero.”
“If it was a story that had a real journey for that particular individual,” he concluded. “Then I’d love to make the movie.”
(Speaking of, with James Gunn’s DCU Brave and the Bold film rumored to be losing its current director Andy Muschietti, and given the studio head’s desire to deliver a version of The Dark Knight that amalgamates all of his various portrayals – including the over-the-top camp of Batman ’66 – now seems like a great time for someone at DC Studios to pick up the phone and give Raimi a ring!)
