Entertainment Tonight showed the trailer that'll be shown in theaters when Jurassic Park 3 hits theaters this month, and it looks awesome! Basically, some crooks pull a bank heist and fly away in a helicopter in between some New York buildings (where else, natch?), when the copter suddenly stops in midflight, and starts moving backwards. You can see the white webline that's pulling it connected at the rear and then the occupants find themselves snagged in a giant web that's built between the two World Trade Center towers, and that also prevents the copter blades from spinning. Then you see a mirror image of New York close up, the camera pans back and it's Spidey's eyes. A closeup of his right hand shows his fingers in the classic Spidey webshooting pose, a white webline shoots out of it and then we see some fantastic swinging action!

The only complaint I have about the trailer is that the views of the helicopter are so obviously CGI and a model when you see it in the web. I dunno if it's a clip from the film, or only in the trailer, as I hope it is, cuz I'd expect the finished product to look much more realistic these days. No signs of the Green Goblin, as I was hoping, either. It comes out next May. Gee, I hope there aren't any other highly expected big budget films coming out that month.

I think they want to keep Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin makeup under wraps until the movie debuts.

Probably, and not that I blame them. I'd like GG to be just like he is in the comic books but I know his appearance will be somewhat altered. The only problem I had with the drawn GG was how his mask's eyes operated, in that they were huge with tiny black beads for pupils but how could ordinary human eyes move all over in a mask like his did. Not only that but how did its mouth conform to his? Of course, it's all fantasy so a lot of disbelief has to be suspended.

They did the same thing with Spidey's mask on occassion. For example, Spidey once fell from a great height (I think from a helicopter), and dived into the Hudson or East River. Despite making a perfect dive in order to survive, it still hurt, and as his head peaked out from the surface of the water, the artist (I think it may have been during Todd McFarlane's run) turned the eyes on Spidey's mask upward, into a grimace, because he was in great pain.

Of course, I think this is a bit easier to buy than the full facial expression capabilities of the Goblin's mask.

Yeah, I'd forgotten Spidey's mask does the same thing at times, like when he shows great anguish. In the movie the web designs on the red parts of his costume are white, and there aren't as many as are drawn in the comics, for obvious reasons. Well, I think it was John Romita who drew the least amount of them on Spidey. And now Spidey's eyes are mirrors, which isn't too bad, I think. Works for me. I was wondering before if they'd either build a mask with white for the eyes and have it sheer enough for Tobey to see thru or if his eyes would be exposed and then have the whiteness overlayed with CGI later on. If you've ever seen those awful Spidey TV movies from the late 70s that mask had metal eyes with tiny holes, which I hated. And don't get me started on the webbing effect. In fact, the only other thing this movie shares with those TV ones (besides the main character and setting, of course) is that they both use white webbing, which of course makes sense since real spiders produce white webbing and not black, which is easier for artists to draw.

MarkN: In the movie the web designs on the red parts of his costume are white

Luigi Novi: Actually, they are black, but they're made of a material that's very smooth and reflective, so it reflects light a bit too much. It kinda bugs me too. They should've used a less reflective material, like canvas, or something.

MarkN: [black webbing] is easier for artists to draw

Luigi Novi: Well, maybe, but when Todd McFarlane was drawing Spiderman, he used to draw webbing that was far more intricate, and everyone began imitating it. He would illustrate the weblines as several thick strands of spaghetti-like webbing, and the colorists would color it gray. It looked like the artificial substance it was supposed to be, and I actually preferred it to the thin, silhouetted black style than many artists have reverted back to at this point, which to me, looks more lazy.

I know. I used to read his Spidey comics. In fact, I have a McFarlane Spidey tee shirt with the image of Spidey on his first comic done by Todd (just the image, not the look of the comic itself), where he's a bit ensnared in that giant webbing with lots of spiders all over it. And he's not the first to give Spidey intricate webbing on his costume, although he did the most intricate. That goes to Ditko, whom McFarlane once admitted to as being an influence, like on poses (if memory serves).

I've always like the weblike look of the webbing as it shot out of the webshooters, so I was a bit disappointed when Todd changed it but I got over it and it doesn't bother me anymore. He made even that pretty intricate but since then everyone else has been lazy about the McFarlane style so their versions of it weren't very well done at all. I used to wonder why Todd made the webbing like that, and how physically it would have several strands shoot out with some more loosely encircling it's outer circumference.

I saw the trailer when I went to see the Final Fantasy movie (Which I enjoyed) and I thought it looked cool. The only problem I had was that it was all very obvious CGI, to the point that I was thinking it was going to be an amateurish local commercial like they sometimes show at theaters these days.

It's definitely the movie I'm most looking forward to for next summer.

I've also been a fan of the more intricate thick webbing, even if it requires a little more suspension of disbelief. It just looks so much better than the boring black lines that some artists use.

MarkN: I know. I used to read his Spidey comics.

Luigi Novi: Well, not that there was much to read in them, at any rate. (Not the one he wrote, anyway.)

MarkN: In fact, I have a McFarlane Spidey tee shirt with the image of Spidey on his first comic done by Todd (just the image, not the look of the comic itself), where he's a bit ensnared in that giant webbing with lots of spiders all over it.

Luigi Novi: You’re talking about Spiderman #1, right? That’s not Todd’s first Spidey comic. His first Spidey comic was Amazing Spiderman #298.

MarkN: And he's not the first to give Spidey intricate webbing on his costume, although he did the most intricate. That goes to Ditko, whom McFarlane once admitted to as being an influence, like on poses (if memory serves).

Luigi Novi: Well, I’ve never seen a Ditko drawing of Spidey with intricate webbing. I do know, however, that Michael Golden did so before McFarlane, as did Arthur Adams when Spidey showed up in the Longshot miniseries.

MarkN: I've always like the weblike look of the webbing as it shot out of the webshooters, so I was a bit disappointed when Todd changed it but I got over it and it doesn't bother me anymore. He made even that pretty intricate but since then everyone else has been lazy about the McFarlane style so their versions of it weren't very well done at all. I used to wonder why Todd made the webbing like that, and how physically it would have several strands shoot out with some more loosely encircling it's outer circumference.

Luigi Novi: Because it looked cool!

Spornan: I saw the trailer when I went to see the Final Fantasy movie (Which I enjoyed) and I thought it looked cool. The only problem I had was that it was all very obvious CGI, to the point that I was thinking it was going to be an amateurish local commercial like they sometimes show at theaters these days.

Luigi Novi: Tell me about it. The shots of the helicopter being pulled by the webbing were just plain awful. I’ m hoping it’ll be improved by the time the movie comes out next May.

Spornan: I've also been a fan of the more intricate thick webbing, even if it requires a little more suspension of disbelief. It just looks so much better than the boring black lines that some artists use.

Luigi Novi: I agree. McFarlane was also cool because he always drew Spidey at warp, and not impulse.

You’re talking about Spiderman #1, right? That’s not Todd’s first Spidey comic.
That's the one. I couldn't remember if it was Todd's first Spidey or not; I just assumed it was.

I thought the trailer debuts with JP3 (as Entertainment Tonight reported), which I wanna see, as well as Final Fantasy. How'd you like FF, Spornan?

I enjoyed it, as a longtime (since the original) fan of the Final Fantasy games. It's not high art or anything like that, but if you're a fan of most of the FF games, you'll probably like the movie. It's like a condensed version of the video game plots. It's got that happy-cheesy quality that exists in a lot of the final fantasy games, so if you go in expecting it to be anything more than that, you'll be kinda disappointed. If not, I think you'll find it pretty enjoyable.

You can find the trailer here: http://www.movie-list.com/s/spider-man.shtml

Luigi Novi: You’re talking about Spiderman #1, right? That’s not Todd’s first Spidey comic.

MarkN: That's the one. I couldn't remember if it was Todd's first Spidey or not; I just assumed it was.

Luigi Novi: I don't know if you're still into reading comics, but if you liked Todd's run on Spiderman, or if you appreciate the writing and story aspects of comics, you'd like his run on Amazing, in which he was paired with writer David Michelenie. This run includes Amazing Spiderman #300, which introduced Venom, and Venom's return a year or two later, Todd's new look for Mary Jane (which sent many a male fan's hormone's racing), Todd's take on the Prowler, FF's Thing, an appearance by the Hulk (the comic that Todd cut his teeth on, which got him the Amazing assignment), Silver Sable, the Sandman, etc. It was Todd's run on Amazing that gained him the acclaim that led to his getting his own carte a blanche book, Spiderman, and which he further parlayed into his Spawn property and toy company.

I only wish PC games could be as detailed as this movie. You'd think they would be by now, or pretty close, at least. I almost went to see it today but I may wait awhile cuz we're really hurting for work so I have to seriously watch my money right now. I may go see JP3, though. Or has anyone already seen it and what do you think of it?

I liked it. A bit too short, though, with what seemd like a truncated ending.

Entertainment Tonight's website mentions the WTC/Pentagon attacks and in this story mentions the Spidey trailer briefly, about the helicopter caught in the web strung between the towers. For some strange reason, when I first saw the news yesterday I thought of the King Kong remake poster with KK standing on top of each tower, fighting jet fighters.

I thought about the trailer too. I know they sometimes have scenes in trailers not in the movie, and I wonder if the bank robbery scene in the trailer actually appears in the film. If it does, the movie is going to be dated, simply because it shows the WTC. Hell, even if it isn't, the trailer's dated!

I'm hoping they keep that scene in the movie, but suspend the copter between two other buildings, since it doesn't HAVE to be the WTC. Trust me; the movie companies have so much money that they could afford a new shot, which wouldn't cost more than a million bucks, which is peanuts to a multi-billion dollar corporation.

Guys, according to the Toronto Star, that WTC scene was especially created for the trailer - hence the comparatively cheezy production values mentioned above - and the trailer has been pulled from circulation starting today.
The same article noted that the new Schwarzenegger film (the now-extremely-unfortunately-titled Collateral Damage) and the Tim Allen vehicle Big Trouble (which features a bomb-on-an-airplane plot) have been postponed indefinitely from their mid-October opening dates.

As far as the trailer scene, I figured as much. But the WTC was taller than any other two buildings. It can't easily be done with any other two.

Yes, the trailer was filmed only for an enticement for the movie but isn't part of it. I wasn't sure which it'd be but I've read some reviews on entertainment sites, such as Entertainment Weekly and E!Online.com and they confirmed the trailer's being pulled and also anyone who's got the movie posters showing Spider-Man climbing the Towers to return them. Yeah, right. Anyone who's got those are in possession of a goldmine. Speaking of which, I wonder how quickly it'll be before we start seeing TV ads for commemorative coins (and other useless cheap pieces of garbage) about the WTC and Pentagon disasters, put out by opportunistic jerkoffs. Yes, I know the TV news, newspapers, newsmags and entertainment mags are already doing that, but I'm talking about all those greedy others who'll want to callously, heartlessly cash in as much as possible on the tragedies as soon as possible. Of course there wouldn't even be a market for that if there weren't people who will buy the junk, thinking it'll be a reminder of all those who lost their lives due to the selfish, stup¡d acts of a fanatical few. I hate it when people pimp off tragedies like that. The news you'd expect but for lots more people to do it just to make a buck is really sickening cuz they don't give a goddamn about the lost lives, only their own greedy selves.

I'm with you, MarkN. Hopefully the outcry will be such that anything truly tasteless will be yanked quickly.

I'm not sure if this applies to other stadiums, but the sports editor of the Star pointed out that the Spider-Man trailer has been shown on SkyDome's JumboTron for the past several weeks during Blue Jay home games.
"The amused reaction," Richard Griffen writes, "is always, 'Get real. Nobody could get that close...'"

E-bay has suspended the sale of items related to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A report in today's Scotsman said that the Spider-Man movie itself has been pulled for now, because the Manhattan skyline features prominently throughout the whole film.

And MarkN, I'm with you about the memorabilia menace. I remember we had a very similar thing over here in the UK following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Pulled media, TV division: A five-part Law and Order special that dealt with terrorism in New York. Also new eps of Third Watch, about NYC firefighters, and ABC's showing of the George Clooney terrorist movie, The Peacemaker

You gotta wonder about the future of some of these NYC-based shows. As one commentator put it, 'Isn't Carrie Bradshaw going to be worried about a little more than Sex in her City from now on?'

Also fox will not air the first ep of The Agency because it concerns terrorists who work for Bin Laden. The may pull the new show 24 because it is about a secret service agent who has to protect a president from assasination by terrorists. The terrorist movies movies Colateral Damage and Sum of All Fears, and some Gwentith Paltrow movie where she plays a flight attendant.

A View from the Top. The market research company I work for screened it back in early June. There's nothing having to do with terrorism in it. Hell, the only real violence I saw was the catfight Gwyneth's character has with Christina Applegate's character at the end of the movie, which was mostly for the sake of comedy and maybe a bit of sexuality.

I don't see why it should be pulled, or many of the other things you guys mentioned. Nothing with firefighters? Flight attendants? Why? I mean, c'mon, EVERYONE was touched by this tragedy. A priest died trying to give last rights to some of the fallen before a collapse killed him. Should we hold off anything with priests?

I'm sure they'll sort it out in time, Luigi. But all I know at the moment is that I tried to watch an old, non-terrorist-based Law & Order the night after the tragedy and just about threw up in the attempt.
And I'm Canadian. I can only imagine what New Yorkers - citizens of one of the largest media market in the world - will think now, seeing their city on tv. Now, and for a long while to come, in any format. What happens if, say, a new Third Watch ep decides to pan quickly across the NYC skyline and some editor misses it?
There will probably come a time in which Spider-Man is a nostalgic reminder of glories past, but that time is a long way off. For now, this is an extremely raw wound that doesn't need salt in any dose.
Besides which, I think the pullings are motivated in part by the same sentiment that saw sports leagues cancel their games - respect for the tragedy and a desire to do something to help. Hey, any time either the NFL, Major League Baseball or Hollywood does something for non-mercenary reasons, I say we encourage it in any form.

I think it is really silly how television is being affected.

Ditto, Rene. At my cousin's birthday party last night, a member of my family remarked that one of the problems of all the oversaturation of this event may be giving newscasters the feeling that they're obligated to say something, even if nothing particularly noteworthy is happening, and as a result, is causing a lot of reporting of misinformation.

Thank God SOME normal programming resumed today.

Tritto, Rene. This has been a weird TV week for me; our seminary's president said it best regarding our voyeuristic society: "It somehow seems wrong to watch, but it somehow seems wrong not to watch."

I wonder how Marvel and DC are gonna handle this crisis? Will they incorporate it into their stories, or just ignore it and keep the Towers in their comic book versions of New York? And if they have some terrorist story about it then how would they handle it? With so many super-heroes, and some that have telepathic abilities, how could they explain at least one telepath not being able to see it coming long before it did and take measures to prevent it, or have Dr. Strange look into the future and again take measures himself? No doubt they'll come up with something.

Rather bizarrely, there was an edition of "Superman" comics out in Scotland last week, which featured alien ships crashing into two populated buildings bearing a striking resemblance to the WTC twin towers. The cover went something like "This is NOT a job for Superman". The comic was actually written something like the day before the tragedy occurred, yet still went on sale a few days after.(Source: "Daily Record", but you just can't believe the tabloids these days...)

The comic exists, but it was NOT by any stretch of the imagination written the day before the tragedy. It was written months (maybe even a year) ago. Think logically: How could it have been written, drawn, inked, colored, and printed by Wednesday when the issues are released?

No, the issue was a continuation of a big DC universe arc where aliens bring war to Earth. One of the pages does depict two Metropolis buildings which bear some (intentional) similarity to the Twin Towers that were heavily damaged during the war. I don't recall whether an alien ship smashed into them or not.

Mark, I truly DOUBT that they're going to keep the Towers in the NY skyline.

If I were Joe Quesada or Jenette Kahn, my idea would be this: For the month that comes right after all current in-the-can issues (or hell, maybe they should put some of those issues on hold), they should have a tribute month, in which each character or set of characters tries to cope with this in their own way, while aiding in the cleanup, in a manner that reflects their personality and place in the Marvel or DC U.

Spiderman Maybe he's in one of the Towers during the attack, perhaps covering a story as Peter Parker, and when the chaos starts, changes to Spidey and tries to get his reporter partner and whoever else out of there in what little time. Maybe there can be a little timer between 8:47, when the first plane crashed, and 10:33, when the first Tower collapsed, showing him doing everything he can to catch some of the people who fell/jumped, his guilt over not being able to save more after the collapse, and maybe someone who he saved comes up to him to thank him, making him feel better. Perhaps he comes to the realization that, for all his credo about power and responsibility, it's selfish and unfair of him to presume that he can save everybody.

Captain America Being that he symbolizes America, there's a lot that they can do with Cap. Perhaps that story can get into his head, and explore his feelings on America's role in the crisis, what their response should be, etc.

X-Men Maybe one of the X-Men is caught up in a riot when he/she tries to save an innocent Arab from a mob of racists reacting to the tragedy, and the story can focus on the anti-Arab, anti-Muslim racism that has sprung up i the days following the tragedy, and show how it parallels the bigotry that mutants like the X-Men always face.

Daredevil Perhaps Daredevil ponders what Alan Dershowitz (at least in Reversal of Fortune) called his "Hitler Dream". (Hitler calls him up and says he needs a lawyer. Does Dershowitz take the case?) Perhaps Matt is given the choice to represent a terrorist. Does he take the case? Will his conscience allow him not to? Will it allow him to do so?

Ghost Rider Everyone is talking about vengeance. It might be interesting to see how Johnny Blaze views this. And a possibly interesting question: Just how close in proximity to the spilling of innocent blood does the Ghost Rider host have to be in order to turn into Ghost Rider?

Anyone out there got ideas for DC characters?

Fox Kids is acting weird with the Power Rangers reruns. Last week, they covered over the main villain's speech about the city surrendering in an hour or it will be destroyed with the theme music. (No, the city won't be destroyed with the main theme...the speech was blocked out with the main theme....duh ) And today, they skipped over an episode with a highjacked bus and aired a different episode instead.

I understand the need for sensitivity but I am starting to worry that they'll start screwing with new episodes.

Good ideas, Luigi. I hadn't thought of that. As I was reading your X-Men idea I thought of the parallels between them and the Arab-Americans being prejudiced against, and knew the X-Men would sympathize with them.

Spider-Man's "With great power comes great responsibility" credo could now once again be fitting cuz the WTC attack could become his new "death of Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy" storyline, although of course it'll just be another take on that familiar theme, but a true, much more serious one.

Imagine Hulk, She-Hulk, Thor, Colossus, Superman, Supergirl and any other extra-superstrong heroes (hell, even Superdog!) clearing tons of debris in seconds, especially those who could fly. Hulk could almost fly, jumping miles if he had to. Even some or all of the extra-superstrong villians could also help with that, too, with at least a few still selfishly in it for themselves. What a great storyline that would make if done right. Some of those villians could finally see what true evil really is and make an effort to rehabilitate themselves. Of course, we could never expect Dr. Doom to become totally good. He should always stay evil.

Thanks, Mark.

MarkN: (hell, even Superdog!)

Luigi Novi: You mean Krypto?

MarkN: Hulk could almost fly, jumping miles if he had to.

Luigi Novi: What's Hulk current relationship with the government/military? I stopped reading when Peter David left the title. If it's still antagonistic, then he wouldn't be there.

I just had a thought: Everyone is talking about how this tragedy has caused widespread solidarity among disparate people and groups. It might be cool if Marvel and DC (and hell, even characters from other companies) got together and did a tribute book featuring ALL their characters, whose proceeds would go to the attack-related charities, much as Heroes for Hope starring the X-Men went to African-famine charities.

Another good idea, Luigi. They've already had some super-hero team-ups already, most notably Spider-Man and Superman. There was also Batman vs. Hulk, and I forget what, if any other, team-ups they did.

I dunno Hulk's current status with the guvmint or military cuz I haven't bought or read comics since they were $1.25 cuz I couldn't afford them anymore. Whenever I peruse them at the mall once in awhile it seemed like he went dumb again but then other comics still have him with Banner's intellect.

Whoa, let's see:

Punisher and Batman (TWO of them, in fact! One with the traditional Batman, and one with the Azrael Batman)
Batman and Spawn (Twice. The first was illustrated by my teacher, Klaus Janson, the second written by Frank Miller and illustrated by Todd McFarlane.)
The X-Men and the Teen Titans
Spiderman and Gen-13
Spiderman and Backlash
X-Force and Youngblood
X-Men and Star Trek (Two of 'em, one with the original series cast in the 60's timeline, the other with the NextGen cast set right after ST First Contact)
Hulk/Pitt

And of course, there was the entire Image/Valiant Deathmate crossover, and the three-issue X-Men/WildC.A.T.s crossover (each set in a different comics era).

And if you open it up to series where characters didn't tema up, but fought one another, there's the whole Marvel/DC Amalgam crossover, where they fought, and then ended up merging with one another in Amalgam Comcis, and
Aliens/Predator
Robocop/Terminator
Superman/Aliens
Green Lantern/Aliens
Batman/Predator (Two of them, I believe)

I'm sure I've missed a bunch, but you get the idea.

I've felt for a long time that there were far too many New York City-based dramas and sitcoms, and now it's coming back to haunt the producers and viewers. When I see the Towers during scene changes on Friends or the opening credits of the Daily Show I think of September 11.
And as for Spider-Man teaming up with anybody and cashing in on this tragedy I'd only support it if 100 % of the money went to charity.
The Spider-Man movie shouldn't be pulled, either, since by May alot of the pain should be healed, anyway, and being politically correct shouldn't be required.

Are we supposed to pretend now the Towers never existed?

What Towers?

Not funny. Not funny at all.

Doubt anyone will bother with this, but I'll post it anyway. For those who've wondered what the comics industry's reaction to Sept. 11th is, whether there'll be a benefit comic, well, here's your answer:

www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2001-10-04/stuff.html.

Or part of it anyway.