David Fincher might have been interested in filming the story of a serial killer in “Zodiac” or the macabre crime tale from Brian Michael Bendis’ graphic novel “Torso.” Ask him to do a superhero movie, however, and you may get an unenthusiastic wince.
“No, I'm not interested in doing a superhero,” the “Fight Club” director recently told The Guardian. Taking a round of audience questions during a discussion about his recent work on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Fincher provided further explanation of his position on Spider-Man.
“I was asked if I might be interested in the first ‘Spider-Man,’ and I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it,” he said.
“The thing I liked about Spider-Man was I liked the idea of a teenager," continued Fincher, "the notion of this moment in time when you're so vulnerable yet completely invulnerable.”
The scene that soured him on the project, though, was Spider-Man’s origin story. Apparently, a man aging backwards or beating himself to a pulp with his own fist is fair game. But when it comes to arachnids granting superpowers to kids, Fincher draws a line.
“I wasn't interested in the genesis, I just couldn't shoot somebody being bitten by a radioactive spider – just couldn't sleep knowing I'd done that,” stated the director.
I can only assume that means snagging Fincher to direct the story of Slapstick, the Marvel superhero struck by mysterious cosmic energies and bonded to a giant cartoonish mallet, is out of the question. Bummer.
Would you have liked to see David Fincher direct a Spider-Man movie? What do you think of his opinion about the web-slinger’s origin? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!