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We have our new Spider-Man– Tom Holland.  We have our Aunt May– Marisa Tomei.  Now we officially have our behind-the-scenes talent, director Jon Watts (‘Cop Car’, ‘Clown’) and writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein.  Daley and Goldstein were in the running to direct as well, but obviously Sony and Marvel went a different route.

The duo worked together on the scripts for the new reboot of ‘Vacation,’ as well as ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,’ ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2’ and ‘Horrible Bosses 2.’

So can we assume that the tone of the new ‘Spider-Man’ will be lighter… funny even?  That’s certainly the takeaway from what Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige had to say about the relaunch.

“We’re very excited about any number of things about Spidey and his standalone adventures. Not the least of which being the notion of his sense of humor. That when he puts that mask on in the comics, he has a nonstop wit that is almost as troublesome to the bad guys he’s fighting as his webs and agility.”

So is this truly goodbye to “emo Spider-Man” as some critics have dubbed former big screen takes on the classic wall crawler?  Indeed, though the character is forged from tragedy and loss has peppered his life, the sharp-tongued wise ass is the version most comic readers are familiar with, slinging off puns and one-liners as fast as he spins webs.  To be fair, the Andrew Garfield version, for all its faults, did attempt to steer the character more in that direction than the typically mournful Tobey Maguire version.  And with the previous announcement that the new movie would NOT be another origin story, hopefully that angst will be sidelined in favor of more free-wheeling heroics.

But there’s more to Spidey than zaniness.  The trait that draws most fans in is his status as a geeky loser.  Expect that to remain a major part of his character.

As Daley stated:

“He’s a sharp kid and witty and kind of deals with the fact that he’s an outcast and a geek through humor. It is sort of the safety net for geeks like us, so I think we can totally relate to where he’s coming from. As well as the superpowers, which we also have.”

There’s the “h” word again– humor.

And Daley speaks from personal experience as a geek.  Though he is barely recognizable now that he’s all grown up, he played main character Sam Weir on the cult classic dramedy ‘Freaks & Geeks’ which only lasted one TV season in 1999-2000, but that gave the world James Franco, Seth Rogan, Linda Cardellini and Jason Segel among other big names.  So it goes to show he knows how to properly depict a high school-age Peter Parker as the bully-bait he was in his earliest tales.

Are you ready for a less gloomy spin on the web-spinner?  Are you glad that we might get a Spidey flick in which nobody dies?

Sound off with your hopes below!

Source: Slash Film