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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: The Musical References of Spider-Man’s Multiverse

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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: The Musical References of Spider-Man’s Multiverse

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way HomeSpider-Man has always had a catchy superhero theme, originating from the 1967 cartoon and written by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris. The theme would be used in endless Spider-Man properties across entertainment and media. The Spider-Man theme makes numerous appearances throughout Sam Raimi’s trilogy and is most notably remembered in Spider-Man 2 when Peter Parker (Tobey McGuire) sees a woman on the street (Elyse Dinh) playing it on the violin. In Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the theme makes another appearance, this time as Peter Parker’s (Andrew Garfield) ringtone. And in Jon WattsSpider-Man: Homecoming, the Spider-Man theme song plays over the Marvel Studios opening credits in an orchestral rendition by composer Michael Giacchino.

RELATED: 10 Spider-Man: No Way Home Fan Theories That Were Completely Wrong

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And while the MCU itself had a rocky start in establishing a consistent sound to its connected universe apart from Alan Silvestri’s Avengers theme — see Every Frame a Painting’s video essay about it — the subsequent phases began to utilize its recurring film composers, Giacchino among them, who not only scored Doctor Strange but also every film in Tom Holland’s ‘Home’ trilogy — Homecoming, Far From Home, and the most recent No Way Home. However, the task of Spider-Man’s latest entry isn’t only to continue its connectivity with other MCU films. From all the trailers and posters to Tom Holland’s own comments in Total Film about No Way Home being “a huge moment in cinematic history [because it’s] three generations coming together”, everyone knew this film would re-introduce past Spider-Man villains and heroes (we warned you there would be spoilers) into the MCU by way of magic and the multiverse. So, it would make sense that the film’s score would harken back to previous musical melodies. From Danny Elfman’s Spider-Man trilogy to James Horner’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and to Hans Zimmer’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 scores, Michael Giacchino references music from across Spider-Man’s multiverse and legacy.


Before his work on the Spider-Man films, Giacchino made his MCU debut in 2016’s Doctor Strange, not only by scoring the film itself but by taking up the mantle from Brian Tyler (who scored Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron) and introducing a new Marvel Studios fanfare theme that’s still in use across the films and streaming shows. Giacchino’s score for the Sorcerer Supreme himself would later be cited by Alan Silvestri in Avengers: Endgame when Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) visits the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) during the Battle of New York. But of course, since Doctor Strange himself (Benedict Cumberbatch) plays a significant role in No Way Home by performing the spell that invites all the strange visitors of “multiverse men” into the MCU, Giacchino would call back to the theme he originally composed for the wizard’s solo film. There are further variations to the sound of Doctor Strange, especially in the sequence in which Peter Parker and Steven Strange reach a disagreement about what to do about all the villains, culminating in a visually — and musically — engaging battle in the Mirror Dimension.


But while Doctor Strange plays a part in expanding the multiverse, the real appeal of No Way Home for fans is the return of Spider-Man’s cinematic rogues’ gallery, and with them come some of their sinister themes. Doctor Otto Octavius aka Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), first made his appearance in Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 and is the first villain that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker meets after Strange’s spell. When the eight-limbed mad scientist comes looking for Peter and his machine, his entrance and rampage on the bridge are ushered in with familiar notes from Elfman’s “Doc Ock is Born” from Spider-Man 2. But Doc Ock isn’t the only villain from the Raimi films who makes a return, as Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) is back and even more sinister than before.


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The Goblin is the primary villain among the others returning, and Giacchino utilizes Elfman’s musical motifs from the very first Spider-Man score, specifically a segment entitled “Enter the Goblin”, to make Dafoe’s anticipated return all the more villainous. And while his villain and movie were less well-received than other Spider-Man films, Jamie Foxx returns as Electro, albeit in a more appealing costume. When Electro first arrives, any keen fan and score aficionado can recognize the dub-step influenced theme “I’m Electro” by none other than DC’s go-to composer, Hans Zimmer. Giacchino straddles a fine line between the MCU and its expanded universe, but he manages to incorporate Elfman’s and Zimmer’s themes into a consistent soundtrack for the villains.


To no one’s surprise, the other cinematic Spider-Men also show up in this film. When Peter’s best friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are looking for their Peter, Ned accidentally summons up other variants of Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield and Tobey McGuire make their MCU debut through a portal conjured by Ned’s newly found magic powers and a sling ring. Throughout Garfield and McGuire’s time in No Way Home, which was surprisingly significant, their respective musical themes play. Giacchino references the late James Horner’s theme from The Amazing Spider-Man, entitled “Main Title — Young Peter” for Garfield’s Spider-Man and, perhaps the more nostalgic theme, Danny Elfman’s “Spider-Man Main Theme” for Tobey McGuire’s. While I personally would have enjoyed more of their themes being used in the film, especially Elfman’s iconic theme or even Zimmer’s theme for Garfield from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, hearing even the slightest few notes already enhances the inherent emotional and nostalgic investment in these characters.


With every Spider-Man movie comes a new, often spectacular soundtrack. Take, for instance, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which has become synonymous with Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower”. Building on what Spider-Verse achieved in animated form, No Way Home is an amazing feat, not only in capping Tom Holland’s Spider-Man ‘Home’ trilogy but in giving fans more than they asked for as a culmination of all three live-action cinematic Peter Parkers. While it’s disappointing that composer Michael Giacchino won’t be returning with director Scott Derickson to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, veteran Spider-Man duo Sam Raimi and Danny Elfman return for the Sorcerer Supreme’s follow-up where he will surely deal with the consequences of No Way Home.


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Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

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Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

Hitting the three-quarter-century mark usually means a retirement home, a nursing facility, or if you’re lucky to be blessed with relatively good health and savings to match, living in a gated community in Arizona or Florida.

For Sylvester Stallone, however, it means something else entirely: starring in the first superhero-centered film of his decades-long career in the much-delayed Samaritan. Unfortunately for Stallone and the audience on the other side of the screen, the derivative, turgid, forgettable results won’t get mentioned in a career retrospective, let alone among the ever-expanding list of must-see entries in a genre already well past its peak.

For Stallone, however, it’s better late than never when it involves the superhero genre. Maybe in getting a taste of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with his walk-on role in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel several years ago, Stallone thought anything Marvel can do, I can do even better (or just as good in the nebulous definition of the word).

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The property Stallone and his team found for him, Samaritan, a little-known graphic novel released by a small, almost negligible, publisher, certainly takes advantage of Stallone’s brute-force physicality and his often underrated talent for near-monosyllabic brooding (e.g., the Rambo series), but too often gives him to little do or say as the lone super-powered survivor, the so-called “Samaritan” of the title, of a lifelong rivalry with his brother, “Nemesis.” Two brothers entered a fire-ravaged building and while both were presumed dead, one brother did survive (Stallone’s Joe Smith, a garbageman by day, an appliance repairman by night).

In the Granite City of screenwriter Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room, Season of the Witch), the United States, and presumably the rest of the world, teeters on economic and political collapse, with a recession spiraling into a depression, steady gigs difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, and the city’s neighborhoods rocked by crime and violence. No one’s safe, not even 13-year-old Sam (Javon Walker), Joe’s neighbor.

When he’s not dodging bullies connected to a gang, he’s falling under the undue influence of Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), a low-rent gang leader with an outsized ego and the conviction that he and only he can take on Nemesis’s mantle and along with that mantle, a hammer “forged in hate,” to orchestrate a Bane-like plan to plunge the city into chaos and become a wealthy power-broker in the process.

Schut’s woefully underwritten script takes a clumsy, haphazard approach to world-building, relying on a two-minute animated sequence to open Samaritan while a naive, worshipful Sam narrates Samaritan and Nemesis’s supposedly tragic, Cain and Abel-inspired backstory. Schut and director Julius Avery (Overlord) clumsily attempt to contrast Sam’s childish belief in messiah-like, superheroic saviors stepping in to save humanity from itself and its own worst excesses, but following that path leads to authoritarianism and fascism (ideas better, more thoroughly explored in Watchmen and The Boys).

While Sam continues to think otherwise, Stallone’s superhero, 25 years past his last, fatal encounter with his presumably deceased brother, obviously believes superheroes are the problem and not the solution (a somewhat reasonable position), but as Samaritan tracks Joe and Sam’s friendship, Sam giving Joe the son he never had, Joe giving Sam the father he lost to street violence well before the film’s opening scene, it gets closer and closer to embracing, if not outright endorsing Sam’s power fantasies, right through a literally and figuratively explosive ending. Might, as always, wins regardless of how righteous or justified the underlying action.

It’s what superhero audiences want, apparently, and what Samaritan uncritically delivers via a woefully under-rendered finale involving not just unconvincing CGI fire effects, but a videogame cut-scene quality Stallone in a late-film flashback sequence that’s meant to be subversively revelatory, but will instead lead to unintentional laughter for anyone who’s managed to sit the entirety of Samaritan’s one-hour and 40-minute running time.

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Samaritan is now streaming worldwide on Prime Video.

Samaritan

Cast
  • Sylvester Stallone
  • Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton
  • Pilou Asbæk

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Matt Shakman Is In Talks To Direct ‘Fantastic Four’

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According to a new report, Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct the upcoming MCU project, Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios has been very hush-hush regarding Fantastic Four to the point where no official announcements have been made other than the film’s release date. No casting news or literally anything other than rumors has been released regarding the project. We know that Fantastic Four is slated for release on November 8th, 2024, and will be a part of Marvel’s Phase 6. There are also rumors that the cast of the new Fantastic Four will be announced at the D23 Expo on September 9th.

Fantastic Four is still over two years from release, and we assume we will hear more news about the project in the coming months. However, the idea of the Fantastic Four has already been introduced into the MCU. John Krasinski played Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The cameo was a huge deal for fans who have been waiting a long time for the Fantastic Four to enter the MCU. When Disney acquired Twenty Century Fox in 2019 we assumed that the Fox Marvel characters would eventually make their way into the MCU. It’s been 3 years and we already have had an X-Men and Fantastic Four cameo – even if they were from another universe.

Deadline is reporting that Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct Fantastic Four. Shakman served as the director for Wandavision and has had an extensive career. He directed two episodes of Game of Thrones and an episode of The Boys, and he had a long stint on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There is nothing official yet, but Deadline’s sources say that Shakman is currently in talks for the job and things are headed in the right direction.

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To be honest, I was a bit more excited when Jon Watts was set to direct. I’m sure Shakman is a good director, but Watts proved he could handle a tentpole superhero film with Spider-Man: Homecoming. Wandavision was good, but Watts’ style would have been perfect for Fantastic Four. The film is probably one of the most anticipated films in Marvel’s upcoming slate films and they need to find the best person they can to direct. Is that Matt Shakman? It could be, but whoever takes the job must realize that Marvel has a lot riding on this movie. The other Fantastic Four films were awful and fans deserve better. Hopefully, Marvel knocks it out of the park as they usually do. You can see for yourself when Fantastic Four hits theaters on November 8th, 2024.

Film Synopsis: One of Marvel’s most iconic families makes it to the big screen: the Fantastic Four.

Source: Deadline

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Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase Star in ‘Zombie Town’ Mystery Teen Romancer (Exclusive)

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Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase have entered Zombie Town, a mystery teen romancer based on author R.L. Stine’s book of the same name.

The indie, now shooting in Ontario, also stars Henry Czerny and co-teen leads Marlon Kazadi and Madi Monroe. The ensemble cast includes Scott Thompson and Bruce McCulloch of the Canadian comedy show Kids in the Hall.

Canadian animator Peter Lepeniotis will direct Zombie Town. Stine’s kid’s book sees a quiet town upended when 12-year-old Mike and his friend, Karen, see a horror movie called Zombie Town and unexpectedly see the title characters leap off the screen and chase them through the theater.

Zombie Town will premiere in U.S. theaters before streaming on Hulu and then ABC Australia in 2023.

“We are delighted to bring the pages of R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town to the screen and equally thrilled to be working with such an exceptional cast and crew on this production. A three-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award winner with book sales of over $500 million, R.L. Stine has a phenomenal track record of crafting stories that engage and entertain audiences,” John Gillespie, Trimuse Entertainment founder and executive producer, said in a statement.

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Executive producers are Trimuse Entertainment, Toonz Media Group, Lookout Entertainment, Viva Pictures and Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates.  

Paco Alvarez and Mark Holdom of Trimuse negotiated the deal to acquire the rights to Stine’s Zombie Town book.

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