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丕賱賯賵丞 丕賱毓馗賷賲丞: 賰賷賮 賴賷賲賳 爻亘丕賷丿乇賲丕賳 毓賱賶 賴賵賱賷賵賵丿 禺賱丕賱 丕賱毓氐乇 丕賱匕賴亘賷 賱兀賮賱丕賲 丕賱賯氐氐 丕賱賲氐賵乇丞 丕賱鬲噩丕乇賷丞
丕賱賯賵丞 丕賱毓馗賷賲丞: 賰賷賮 賴賷賲賳 爻亘丕賷丿乇賲丕賳 毓賱賶 賴賵賱賷賵賵丿 禺賱丕賱 丕賱毓氐乇 丕賱匕賴亘賷 賱兀賮賱丕賲 丕賱賯氐氐 丕賱賲氐賵乇丞 丕賱鬲噩丕乇賷丞 " "廿賳賻賾 丕賱賯賵丞 丕賱毓馗賷賲丞 鬲氐丕丨亘賴丕 賲爻丐賵賱賷丞 毓馗賷賲丞.鈥� 賱胤丕賱賲丕 鬲乇丿丿 氐丿賶 鬲賱賰 丕賱賲賯賵賱丞 丕賱兀賷賯賵賳賷丞 禺賱丕賱 丕賱毓丿賷丿 賲賳 丕賱毓賯賵丿貙 賵毓亘乇 丕賱毓丿賷丿 賲賳 氐賮丨丕鬲 丕賱賯氐氐 丕賱賲氐賵乇丞貙 賵丕賱賲卮丕賴丿 丕賱爻賷賳賲丕卅賷丞貙 賱鬲賲孬賱 賲賳毓胤賮丕 賴丕賲賸丕 賮賷 乇丨賱丞 亘胤賱 丕賱丨賷 丕賱賵丿賵丿貙 賵鬲氐亘丨 丨噩乇 丕賱兀爻丕爻 丕賱匕賷 賷卮賰賱 毓賯賷丿丞 丕賱亘胤賱 賮賷 乇丐賷鬲賴 賵鬲賮丕毓賱丕鬲賴 賲毓 丕賱毓丕賱賲 賲賳 丨賵賱賴. 賷購爻丕毓賽丿購 賴匕丕 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 丕賱賯乇丕亍 毓賱賶 賮賴賲 丕賱噩丕匕亘賷丞 丕賱毓丕賱賲賷丞 賱爻亘丕賷丿乇賲丕賳 亘卮賰賱 兀賮囟賱貙 賵匕賱賰 賲賳 禺賱丕賱 鬲丨賱賷賱 丕賱卮禺氐賷丞 賰丕賲賱丞 賵氐賵賱丕賸 廿賱賶 丕賱兀爻丕爻貙 賵廿賱賯丕亍 丕賱囟賵亍 毓賱賶 噩賲賷毓 丕賱噩賵丕賳亘 丕賱乇丕卅毓丞 丕賱鬲賷 鬲噩毓賱賴 賲丨亘賵亘賸丕. 爻賷鬲亘毓 賴匕丕 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 兀孬乇 爻亘丕賷丿乇賲丕賳 賵賴賵 賷卮賯 胤乇賷賯賴 廿賱賶 賯賲丞 丕賱賴乇賲 丕賱睾匕丕卅賷 賮賷 賴賵賱賷賵賵丿 毓賳 胤乇賷賯 鬲賵孬賷賯 賰賱 禺胤賵丞 賮賷 乇丨賱鬲賴貙 賵廿賱賯丕亍 丕賱囟賵亍 毓賱賶 鬲兀孬賷乇 爻亘丕賷丿乇賲丕賳 毓賱賶 鬲胤賵乇 丕賱賳賵毓 丕賱爻賷賳賲丕卅賷 賱賱兀賮賱丕賲 丕賱賲購賯鬲亘爻丞 毓賳 丕賱賯氐氐 丕賱賲氐賵乇丞. 賷鬲囟賲賻賾賳購 賴匕丕 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 賲賯丕亘賱丕鬲 賲毓 賰賱 卮禺氐 鬲賯乇賷亘賸丕 賲賳 賲亘丿毓賷 賴賵賱賷賵賵丿 賲賲賳 賯囟賵丕 爻賳賵丕鬲 賲賳 兀毓賲丕乇賴賲 賮賷 賲丨丕賵賱丞 賲毓乇賮丞 兀賮囟賱 胤乇賷賯丞 賱鬲丨賵賷賱 毓丕賱賲 爻亘丕賷丿乇賲丕賳 丕賱爻丨乇賶 丕賱毓噩賷亘 廿賱賶 卮丕卮丕鬲 丕賱爻賷賳賲丕.
520 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 21, 2023
With Great Power: How Spider-Man Conquered Hollywood During The Golden Age Of Comic Book Blockbusters basically follows the story of the multiple attempts, fails and finally triumphs of bringing Spider-Man to the big screen. I really liked Sean O'Connell's book about the Snyder Cut, so I wanted to read this one as well. The end result was incredibly well done, but I would have liked it to go more in depth on a number of the stories. Perhaps maybe we can get an expanded version with a higher page count one of these days.
Special Thanks to Applause, National Book Network and Edelweiss Plus for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.
Special Thanks to Applause, National Book Network and Edelweiss Plus for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.
March 10, 2024
primary takeaway: Total Puff PieceThis is easily the most pandering / publicity-friendly MCU monograph not to be directly published through Disney (or one of its ancillaries).
With the lone exception of one [previously reported] "incident" involving a , this is exactly the type of re-visionist-history Disney-Marvel's Publicity would generate in-house -- that, or the author's credentials are still developing/too fragile to publish a sincere, updated, retrospective, 'warts and all,' without fear of industry reprisal, e.g. rescinding some of those direct lines of cooperation with principle players exhibited herein?
What's worse, the author offers nothing new; Nothing that hasn't already been broadcast, rather, he's just recycling previously-published production anecdotals filtered through aforementioned PR-friendly, controversy-distiller.
E V E R Y T H I N G With Great Power has to say about (2021) totally transcends 1990s SNL-sketch :
he literally guffaws-summation every meta bit, battle(s), and finale.
Example: making-of No Way Home anecdotal...
鈥淧ascal and Feige first reached out to Maguire, who was intrigued by the love and celebration for the preexisting franchises that he heard in the No Way Home team鈥檚 intentions鈥�"...by the love and celebration..."?? Srsly Fck Off!
You definitely won't read about how thought he was Johnny Big Balls, demanding they re-negotiate his fee for an exorbitant sum (against everyone's advice) only to get his ass handed to him when his "bad back" ploy blew up his face. Not only does the author redact this bit of SM2 pre-production infamy (from Sony's Spider-Man timeline), he totally fails to connect its ; instead, citing the 'back-adjustment' scene (in NWH) as "charming" inter-play between the two blockbuster talents. He triflin.
tl;dr: Anyone sincerely interested ought to look elsewhere; specifically, from where the author clearly sourced several chapters from, imo...
by Ben Fritz
by Sean Howe
by Abraham Riesman
January 19, 2023
For movie geeks who are really into Spider-Man. Some interesting insight into bringing the web slinger to the screen (Leo DiCaprio as Spider-Man directed by James Cameron? Almost happened!). It makes me want to watch all the movies again in order.
January 31, 2023
Solid read, fun walk through nostalgia. Was hoping for new pieces I didn鈥檛 know but that鈥檚 more on me than the author. Still learned a few new things but book felt to be repetitive at times, especially toward the end of the book.
June 16, 2023
Sean O鈥機onnell鈥檚 鈥淲ith Great Power鈥� is essentially the 鈥渄efinitive鈥� retelling of Spider-Man鈥檚 cinematic history, documenting the early, doomed-to-fail attempts at bringing the webslinger to the big screen, to recounting various interesting behind-the-scenes tales from the Tobey Maguire/Andrew Garfield films, to ultimately settling on Spidey鈥檚 current integration into the modern MCU. As a tell-all on everything and anything related to Spider-Man鈥檚 journey through Hollywood, there wasn鈥檛 鈥� admittedly - much here that I didn鈥檛 already know; however, it鈥檚 to O鈥機onnell鈥檚 credit that despite the familiarity of many of the anecdotes included here, the TELLING of the tale 鈥� from the way the 20+-year story is structured, to the exclusive interviews included with various cast, crew, and studio execs, to even just the crisply edited prose itself 鈥� make the reading experience consistently compelling and enjoyable. 鈥淲ith Great Power鈥� isn鈥檛 likely to knock Spidey fans鈥� socks (spandex?) off, but as an old-school walk through his cinematic past, it鈥檚 still well worth a read.
April 19, 2024
鈥淚 feel like there鈥檚 always a Kraven the Hunter pitch. Even on movies that aren鈥檛 Marvel movies, we鈥檙e like, 鈥榃hat if Kraven the Hunter showed up?鈥欌€�
Contains a few factual errors and patches of awkward writing, but the readability factor is high. 鈥淲ith Great Power鈥� oddly doesn鈥檛 seem to spend that much time on any given Spider-Man movie (except No Way Home, which gives the book structure as a unifying grand finale tying everything together), but has fascinating details on various unmade movies and sequel permutations. I鈥檓 charmed that the book earnestly uses the SPUMC acronym many times. 2002 Spider-Man rules!
Contains a few factual errors and patches of awkward writing, but the readability factor is high. 鈥淲ith Great Power鈥� oddly doesn鈥檛 seem to spend that much time on any given Spider-Man movie (except No Way Home, which gives the book structure as a unifying grand finale tying everything together), but has fascinating details on various unmade movies and sequel permutations. I鈥檓 charmed that the book earnestly uses the SPUMC acronym many times. 2002 Spider-Man rules!
November 18, 2022
With Great Power is astonishing, amazing, spectacular, and any other adjective used to describe everybody's favorite neighborhood Spider-Man. I honestly thought I knew all there was to know about Spidey's cinematic history, but I genuinely learned a lot reading this book, and it was also just fun to read. If you love Spider-Man (and who doesn't?) then pick up this book.
May 25, 2023
A fun book to read about the history of Spider-Man in cinema. While I'm already familiar with the facts and information that Sean O'Connell discussed here, I was still entertained and in awe of how the character became a bigger global icon. If you're a fan of Spider-Man, it is definitely a good read.
Read
October 12, 2024Been reading this one on and off since January but decided to power through once I found out the audio book was on Hoopla.
As someone who has always been interested in the character of Spider-Man, I will say that I did already know a good deal of what the book covered, but getting to read it in a collected work all at once was fun for sure.
As someone who has always been interested in the character of Spider-Man, I will say that I did already know a good deal of what the book covered, but getting to read it in a collected work all at once was fun for sure.
October 31, 2022
This is a fascinating look at the history of comics鈥� most popular characters. While Spider-Man has had many successes it is Sean's analysis of what didn't happen that I found to be very captivating. If you are a fan of the webhead I highly recommend you check it out!
January 26, 2024
As a Spider-Man fan I always wanted to know how Spider-Man made it to the Moveis and upon reading this book I learned it was touch and go at first with who owned the rights and getting a story together and so on but when it finally came together with Tobey Maguire, then Andrew Garfield and then Tom Holland
January 19, 2023
Really great read! An in-depth dive into the history of one of pop culture's most enduring superheroes that's equally informative and interesting. O'Connell leaves no stone unturned and includes some great anecdotes and interviews from key players.
April 14, 2023
If you鈥檙e a fan of Spider-man, Marvel Studios, or superheroes in general and want to know more about the behind-the-scenes development of this particular franchise, then definitely read this book!
I need to provide a little bit of context before continuing: I heard about Sean O鈥機onnell when he started interviewing folks who were involved in the Release The Snyder Cut campaign for his first book. Sean reached out to me at that time, and we had an excellent conversation. He did a great job highlighting the real-life drama behind Zack Snyder鈥檚 involvement with Warner Bros, as well as giving the fans behind the campaign a more than fair representation of the movement. So I am already grateful for the care Sean showed in writing that first book. I also started listening to his Reel Blend podcast and it鈥檚 now one of my favorite movie podcasts.
When Sean announced that his second book was going to be a passion project about his favorite superhero, I knew that he was going to approach the cinematic journey of Spider-man with the dual lens of a fan and a great journalist. This book reflects that balance perfectly!
I found myself learning lots of great new stories about the trials and tribulations of bringing Spider-man to the big screen and also getting reminded of some items that I had learned about before. The items that I found myself most interested in were Raimi鈥檚 unproduced Spider-man 4. Part of me still wished he had made this, as the third film was lacking for me and many fans. Yet Raimi鈥檚 first two films with Maguire remain personal favorites in the superhero genre, and seeing how well those two films were executed despite some of the BTS difficulties was enjoyable to read about.
The other great story Sean O鈥機onnell highlighted was the Shailene Woodley material which was cut out of TASM 2, in which she was cast as Mary Jane Watson. I have a deep loathing for both of Webb鈥檚 TASM films. When Woodley was originally announced to play Mary Jane, I was ecstatic because I felt that was a role she was born to play. The way Shailene Woodley presents herself in real life (at least in her 20鈥檚 at that time) to me seemed like she was a real-life Mary Jane! She was pitch perfect casting and became the only thing I was excited to see in TASM 2. So when we learned that she was removed, my interest in the film plummeted, and the end product was hardly satisfying. While I still want to see that footage, reading about Woodley鈥檚 cut role in Sean鈥檚 book was definitely a highlight.
By the time Sean got to speaking about Tom Holland and Sony鈥檚 sharing deal with Marvel Studios, you could feel Sean鈥檚 excitement towards those events ramp up on the page. I share Sean鈥檚 enthusiasm for Holland鈥檚 Spider-man, and reading about all the elements that went into the Spidey sharing deal between Sony and Marvel Studios was a delight to read, reminding me of how I felt when those various news stories broke - all the way from Spidey joining Captain America: Civil war, to the John Watts films, the 鈥渄ivorce and re-marriage鈥� of the Spidey sharing deal between the two studios, and finally the culmination into Spider-man: NWH.
As an outside observer, it鈥檚 fair to say that following Spidey鈥檚 journey from the comics onto the silver screen has often been an emotional roller coaster. I could not be happier with where Spider-man is now in the films. Sean鈥檚 book spotlights this emotional journey while providing helpful and insightful context from so many involved in the development of this character鈥檚 franchise.
In short, Sean O鈥機onnell鈥檚 WITH GREAT POWER book is a joy to read and will provide wonderful context to how and why this great character has both failed and succeeded at the box office, web-slinging his way into our hearts multiple times over. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book!
I need to provide a little bit of context before continuing: I heard about Sean O鈥機onnell when he started interviewing folks who were involved in the Release The Snyder Cut campaign for his first book. Sean reached out to me at that time, and we had an excellent conversation. He did a great job highlighting the real-life drama behind Zack Snyder鈥檚 involvement with Warner Bros, as well as giving the fans behind the campaign a more than fair representation of the movement. So I am already grateful for the care Sean showed in writing that first book. I also started listening to his Reel Blend podcast and it鈥檚 now one of my favorite movie podcasts.
When Sean announced that his second book was going to be a passion project about his favorite superhero, I knew that he was going to approach the cinematic journey of Spider-man with the dual lens of a fan and a great journalist. This book reflects that balance perfectly!
I found myself learning lots of great new stories about the trials and tribulations of bringing Spider-man to the big screen and also getting reminded of some items that I had learned about before. The items that I found myself most interested in were Raimi鈥檚 unproduced Spider-man 4. Part of me still wished he had made this, as the third film was lacking for me and many fans. Yet Raimi鈥檚 first two films with Maguire remain personal favorites in the superhero genre, and seeing how well those two films were executed despite some of the BTS difficulties was enjoyable to read about.
The other great story Sean O鈥機onnell highlighted was the Shailene Woodley material which was cut out of TASM 2, in which she was cast as Mary Jane Watson. I have a deep loathing for both of Webb鈥檚 TASM films. When Woodley was originally announced to play Mary Jane, I was ecstatic because I felt that was a role she was born to play. The way Shailene Woodley presents herself in real life (at least in her 20鈥檚 at that time) to me seemed like she was a real-life Mary Jane! She was pitch perfect casting and became the only thing I was excited to see in TASM 2. So when we learned that she was removed, my interest in the film plummeted, and the end product was hardly satisfying. While I still want to see that footage, reading about Woodley鈥檚 cut role in Sean鈥檚 book was definitely a highlight.
By the time Sean got to speaking about Tom Holland and Sony鈥檚 sharing deal with Marvel Studios, you could feel Sean鈥檚 excitement towards those events ramp up on the page. I share Sean鈥檚 enthusiasm for Holland鈥檚 Spider-man, and reading about all the elements that went into the Spidey sharing deal between Sony and Marvel Studios was a delight to read, reminding me of how I felt when those various news stories broke - all the way from Spidey joining Captain America: Civil war, to the John Watts films, the 鈥渄ivorce and re-marriage鈥� of the Spidey sharing deal between the two studios, and finally the culmination into Spider-man: NWH.
As an outside observer, it鈥檚 fair to say that following Spidey鈥檚 journey from the comics onto the silver screen has often been an emotional roller coaster. I could not be happier with where Spider-man is now in the films. Sean鈥檚 book spotlights this emotional journey while providing helpful and insightful context from so many involved in the development of this character鈥檚 franchise.
In short, Sean O鈥機onnell鈥檚 WITH GREAT POWER book is a joy to read and will provide wonderful context to how and why this great character has both failed and succeeded at the box office, web-slinging his way into our hearts multiple times over. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book!
November 1, 2023
There's certainly nothing "wrong" with this book, it's very informative and taught me a lot I didn't know, but the presentation is quite dull as opposed to books I've read about similar topics where you really hear the author's voice.
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