✠ I would be surprised if the loyalties of the fans have not shifted from my favourite superhero of the childhood to what could be termed as the Iron Man mania or the Batman addiction. They have taken over, and my other childhood superhero He-Man is nowhere to be found. The Revival of the interest in Spider-Man can go back to the Tobey Maguire – Kirsten Dunst starring adaptation of the same and its sequels. Still, the favourite actor of the series happened to be James Franco, thanks to Spider-Man 3. As everyone was waiting to watch The Dark Knight Rises, there was a little lack of interest in the same, but I am glad that the movie has managed to survive. Spider-Man was my favourite comic-strip in the Sunday newspaper, and I remember waiting eagerly for it, even as for the cartoons section, the winner was Ducktales. I had a good collection of Spidey’s graphic novels, and I can remember buying despised chewing gums just for getting the Spidey stickers free, giving the gums to my friends. Spider-Man defined my childhood, even as I never tried to climb the walls. I would add that Spider-Man is also the first “typical superhero” video game I played.

Count Dracula: Spider-Man? Seriously? I mean you are the Vampire Bat, always wearing that black costume and pretending that you can fly, and you still like Spider-Man? You should like Batman, he is your kind sharing the “bat” added to your names – he comes in black, while this spider person comes in red and blue. Even Robocop comes in black pretending that he is Judge Dredd, and it is the new trend. Think about it – Spidey boy is too thin for you; it might feel okay for you now, but from the way you are gaining weight, you might become Vampire Bane and not Vampire Bat.

Vampire Bat: I have no special interest in the character, nor am I interested any spider. I have a fair share of spiders and their webs in my room though. I used to raise a little spider on my motor-bike, but it wasn’t radio active, and went missing on a rainy day. I didn’t have photo of it, which is why I couldn’t ask people if they have seen the little one. Do come here, and count the spiders. I wake up every day, and see a lizard or cockroach, thats how I usually start my day. If you need a centipede though, there are some beautiful pictures right here at Harsha’s place (http://allresourceupdates.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/centipede-they-are-quite-fastarent-they/)

Count Dracula: No, thanks. There was a time when a centipede got into my coffin. I won’t blame it as I am obviously the dead Count walking. It seemed to love the time in my ear, and I had to use drown myself in blood to get it out. I had to run after the local village people with an axe three times a day to reduce the fat that I had gained by taking in too much dark elf blood. Thank God for Goblin Markets, otherwise it would have fed on my brain and the childish zombies would have mocked me. Let me tell you this though, no centipede or a spider will ever become a vampire.

Vampire Bat: But Peter Parker is bitten by the spider, that too a genetically modified one. As you know, the abilities were transferred like vampirism. Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, along with most of which you already know – of Spider-Man Origins as the man becomes Spider-Man after his uncle’s death. That would leave the question about what are the two different things – they are Gwen Stacy and Dr. Curt Connors a.k.a The Lizard. I would say that they both score better than our heroine and villains of the earlier Spider-Man trilogy. I wouldn’t just judge our hero in comparison yet though.

Count Dracula: Only one villain? That is depressing. I heard that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will have two of them, The Rhino and Electro. It is usually the number two movie that comes up with the best villain. Now that is going to be a cliche for sure.

Vampire Bat: I doubt that. I know who you are referring to, but I loved Batman Begins, and Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul is my first preference for a Batman villain in the new trilogy. The Scarecrow could have been so much better too. But we just can’t deny our Lizard his due. We don’t have an evil man there; he is no Joker, as he falls to his tragic flaw rather than anything that motivates a normal villain. He is the victim of science. He succumbs to that feeling that he can use technology to his advantage in doing the right thing, but ends up doing the exact opposite.

Count Dracula: Someone I know said this “Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain”. It was someone I despise a lot. But the situation here demands that to be true.

Vampire Bat: Yes, I remember Van Helsing. But it doesn’t begin or end there. The Lizard’s only possible true comparison is with Doctor Octopus of Spider-Man 2, another experiment gone wrong and another bad man created. The emotional turmoil, the consequences of his actions and the way their minds deviate – lots of things might be similar. Lizard’s clear advantage is the more advanced CGI and the movie being the origins story. Spider-Man 2 was the last good story in a series and this one is the first. I would still think that the Spidey villains need to get better, as Ra’s al Ghul, Joker, Bane, General Zod – they are all scoring for DC. Marvel’s only hope lies in Loki along with Magneto and his side-kicks as long as they are not taken away by Krrish.

Count Dracula: Talk about Andrew Garfield. He is surely Spider-Man, as the one that you might have read in those Sunday comic strips. He looks young and surely looks like the youngest superhero that is popular with us. He is not burdened by experience as Batman, nor is he troubled by his alien existence like Superman; he has not the need to be He-Man and protect a universe of magic either. He is more or less closer to being the comparatively normal superhero than he is. At least he is closer to being what he claims than you are; you still can’t fly.

Vampire Bat: Why should I fly? Even Batman doesn’t fly. I have a logo like him and I even have dark costumes which can scare people at night. Why don’t you concentrate on Wichita instead? I mean Emma Stone. I can’t get over that name at all – thank you Zombieland. She looked so good in it with the black hair, but this character needed this colour change. This movie has a better romance than the former trilogy, thank God. No overdose of crying romance to follow, we hope. But we can only hope that the Venom episode would be handled much better.

Count Dracula: It took them only five years after the trilogy ended to release the first movie of the reboot franchise. I don’t think that this one can offer too much difference from the previous adaptation. Batman and Superman got rid of the style of wearing underwear on the outside, but as Spider-Man never had that practice, that gesture is not possible. The dark style might not suit him either. May be he can dress like me and hold a spider in his hands. The symbol of ‘bat’ worked for Batman, and the alien nature worked for Superman. Neither the spider symbol or the nerdy character can do something like that for Spider-Man.

Vampire Bat: There are a few things that the trio of superheroes, Superman, Batman and Spider-Man can offer, and one of them is great delight in the form of box-office success. There are many others for sure, but along with Wolverine and Iron Man, these three carry immense potential to break records. The only character from the west who might be more well-known than these should be you. You are our synonym for vampire, and if there is something that they relate with sucking good amount of blood that is you, even as I know a few mosquitoes who might disagree.

Count Dracula: That is not right. I have maintained the disguise of a simple farmer here. I just cultivate corpses, and keep the environment undead. Don’t you have your own vampires out there, the vampires of wealth in the form of celebrities and politicians, vampires of food in the form of restaurants, vampires of truth in the form of media and so on? Do not bother me with that – try your superheroes instead. They shall entertain you and make sure that your childhood concepts remain almost the same.

Vampire Bat: The dignity of superheroes was stolen away by Krrish. It has been partially saved by Thor, but only with the next sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man that it can be claimed back completely. It is up-to Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone to keep the work going. The villains will help, and so will the CGI.

Count Dracula: I am not the kind of person who would believe in superhero stuff. But let me tell you a few things I am sure about. The first thing is that Spider-Man will never be my favourite superhero. The second thing is that I still believe in Spider-Man movies. The simple light shade that the Spidey manages gains my respect.

Vampire Bat: Yes, the movie is excellent in many ways. There are not many flaws to be associated with it. We loved the performances and the way in which they have shaped the story. It is still too early for a reboot and there is nothing spectacular tried this time, and no attempt to deviate into another path like what happened with Batman. Get that DVD, my friend.

Count Dracula: Yes, I think I will. Good bye, brother in fangs.

Vampire Bat (to himself): How can we ignore our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man just because there have been an overflow of superheroes? There is no chance for such a cruelty towards the first Hollywood superhero movie to release in the theatre near my place. There will be no such avoidance. This movie will be more recommended than any other Spider-Man movie. As the origins story has been setup already, the sequel is only going to be better, and I am very confident about it.

✠ The Amazing Spider-Man is another superhero movie which you have to watch. Even without any particular innovation of supreme significance, the movie is a treat to all the fans of the genre as well as the Spidey lovers. The web is stronger than ever this time, even as it will not win any awards in an arachnid competition. Watch this one as the origins story, and there is a lot more to come. You may or may not like spiders, and in most cases loathe them, but lets make sure that this is one creature of the web who gains our attention. Even Count Dracula does that wall crawling stuff very well, and he would indeed love to see something really amazing from the two-legged partial arachnid who just cannot stop itself appearing again and again. Along with the two villains that we have in the upcoming sequel, lets hope for the other interesting villains like Mysterio and Chameleon, as its going to be a long race for the Spidey.

Release date: 3rd July 2012
Running time: 136 minutes
Directed by: Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field

@ Cemetery Watch
✠The Vampire Bat.