Go see it. Now. What do you reckon?

Personally, I have little doubt that Spider-Man 3 is going to use me as an emotional ashtray – and I can’t wait.

Want to know how many of these shots actually figure into the film overall? This is all real, genuine, big spoiler stuff.

“Read on if you dare…”

Where
does Venom come from? Well, the symbiote clings to Peter after a date
with MJ – like gum on his shoe to begin with, almost. As he sleeps,
covers him – we see this in the trailer. When he wakes up, he’s hanging
upside down on the side of a building – much like the final shot in the
teaser. It’s the old werewolf thing – but used to dramatise Peter’s
internal conflict. Venom adopts an appearance like the red/blue Spidey
suit because Peter is wearing it when it covers him – though he’s not
wearing the mask, so there’s a little dramatic license at play. Tut tut
– can do better, Mr. Raimi. See me after class.

Before
getting on Peter, the symbiote has a rather 50’s sci-fi origin, not
unlike that of The Blob. It looks like Raimi has had a lot of fun with
this element of the story.

Okay
– back to the plot. How does Eddie Brock become Venom? Well, when
Spidey is “caught” by the symbiote, Brock follows this Venom character
to a church bell tower. He’s both trying to upstage Peter’s coverage in
the Bugle, and also twist the knife into Spidey. Here, Peter manages to
overcome the symbiote and rip himself free of the suit, but some of it
falls onto Brock. That is, of course, all he needs to soon “become”
Venom. We see plenty of shots from this sequence in the teaser,
including Brock’s discovery of who is inside the suit just before the symbiote gets onto him.

The
Venom-Brock does not look exactly like the Venom-Spidey, but more
organic, more like the comic book Venom. This is, apparently, due to
the fact that Spidey had the red/blue suit on, Brock does not. Peter’s
split into two-halves in so many ways (Peter/Spidey,
Spidey/Venom-Spidey, Peter/Dark Peter) that it would get confusing if
the metaphorical values of each wasn’t so clear.

For
most of the film, Spider-Man is in pursuit of Flint Marko, The Sandman,
but we begin with an early Green Goblin/Spider-Man show-down – some of
which is seen in the trailer – shot at night-time, Harry’s face is
exposed clearly in most shots, you see him fly into the wall fist
first. It is only at the end of the film that Spidey faces off against
Venom. Thankfully, Harry herein comes to his aid in Green Goblin guise,
showing that he too has won his own internal conflict much like Peter
has. Hurrah for Harry.

Sadly, though, Harry is killed. Tears for Harry.

Aunt May also dies within he film’s running time. Trust me, you don’t want to know when and where.

Apparently,
MJ does NOT die. I know I was expecting her to go, but if she does, it
is somehow being kept an even bigger secret than the rest of these
details.

All
the business in the trailer with the ring? Well, apparently, there’s
much ado about that piece of jewellery – and at one point, it even ends
up in a pawn shop. The romance storylines from 1 and 2 are every bit as
much of 3 – maybe more so.

The
Venom-Brock villain is conclusively dispatched, though the symbiote
itself survives – so whatever hack is handed the series after Raimi
leaves (taking Maguire and Dunst with him, no doubt) will be able to
resurrect some kind of Venom villain.

Dark
Spidey, as it were – Peter before he has overcome Venom – is the one
who courts Gwen Stacey. Problems in the relationship with MJ, as well
as professional issues – both as a photographer and crime-fighting
webslinger, as it were – compound to bring him down. Real down. Even
downer than last time. That’s how Raimi, Sargent and co are using Venom
– as a dramatic device to show Peter not just giving up on his great
responsibility, but getting drunk on his great power.

Venom-Spidey fights some robbers, The Sandman and the Green Goblin before Peter dispels it in the bell-tower.

There
are scenes inside Curt Connor’s lab, where he studies the symbiote, and
these scenes are also used to set up the research that will, in the
character’s story – though not in this movie – turn him into The
Lizard. Take these teasing references more as tantalising morsels for
the fanboy piranhas than concrete set-up for any subsequent film,
however.

Spidey’s fights with the Sandman not only take place in the Armoured Car chase so well covered on this blog
(I was on set for much of the shooting) but also, I am told, in the
subway. The final fight, the four-way rumble with Spidey, The Sandman,
Venom and Harry as the Green Goblin, takes place in a construction site.

The
extra villain that everybody has been speculating about makes only a
fleeting appearance, and then only in a very off-hand but amusing way.
Bruce Campbell’s character this time around is Quentin Beck – known to
fans of the comic as Mysterio. Again, don’t take this as set-up for a
subsequent film, but if anybody ever does put Mysterio in a film and
NOT cast Bruce Campbell, they’ll have hell to pay.

And of course, this also cleverly shines a new light on Campbell’s two previous cameo appearances. Hilarious.

I
can now confirm that the Black Cat does not make any significant
appearance in the film, despite existing, on paper, in various earlier
conceptions. She appears to have been removed for and replaced with
Gwen Stacey. She was there for “Dark Peter” to romance, but Stacey was
possibly considered a better choice as the franchise will need a new
sweetheart now Dunst has made her intentions to depart clear.