Wow! Just simply… WOW! Let’s just say, I’ve watched this, had a shower, sat down with a coffee, and I’m still feeling emotional. Maybe that says more about me and my love of Spider-Man than it does about this week’s Video of the Week, but I’ll let you be the judge.
For those unaware, Spider-Man, as in Peter Parker, was actually killed off back in 2011. Marvel had been running their ‘Ultimate’ imprint – basically a more modernised, starting from scratch look at their heroes – for a decade or so at that point. The first book to launch in the Ultimate line was that of Spider-Man, which was handled by the brilliant partnership of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. So, after some fantastically alternative retelling of some of Spidey’s greatest moments, friends and foes, the decision was made to actually kill off Webhead, as in dead, done, finito… to quote The Crow‘s T- Bird, “There ain’t no comin’ back.”
In recent years, studios have decided to make animated motion comic books, with Netflix housing an Iron Man feature focussed on the Extremis virus, and also a Spider-Woman feature centred on Jessica Drew. So, the guys over at Arrival Point Productions have put together their own version of The Death of Spider-Man, using the actual panels from the Ultimate books – namely Ultimate Spider-Man #158 – #160 and Avengers vs New Ultimates #4 – and have dropped in some of the score from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, as well as getting some guys to provide some pretty awesome voice-overs.
So, without further ado, I bring you The Death of Spider-Man. Seriously, get your tissues at the ready…
Pretty heartbreaking, right? I’m not ashamed to say I had tears streaming down my face at the end of that. As I said, me and Spider-Man go way back. In fact, as a kid, it was always Spidey, Batman, and The Punisher for me. The Punisher titles weren’t exactly commonplace in small little North Wales newsagents, so it was mainly Spider-Man and Bats that got my eyes a-reading.
Yes, a new Spider-Man, Miles Morales, came to be, and yes, strictly speaking, the whole Ultimate world is generally seen as non-canon (at this point, at least), but you cannot discard a world that has existed for a decade.
The Video of the Week segment is just a way for me to share something with you guys that I’ve found funny, interesting, informative, etc. It’s just a case of me going, “That was fucking awesome – lemme grab it for the site,” and then it appears. With that said, each and every single one of these Video of the Week segments has been something I’ve massively enjoyed, but this… this is likely my absolute favourite – even more so than the brilliant Grayson.
For more information on the guys behind this brilliantly emotive, funny, pitch-perfect ‘bringing to life’ of Bendis and Bagley’s work, visit http://www.arrivalpointproductions.com.
Now, where’s those tissues…
Confessions of a Nerf Herder 
I’ve never seen a video like this before, I was excellent.
LikeLike
Was there tears?
LikeLike
Well I kind of think of the “ultimate” version of Peter Parker as sort of a clone. But that being said, that comic was really great in its own right, and the character was beloved. It’s the way you’d figure Spidey would go out, though. Weird, a little ridiculous, and heroic as hell.
LikeLike
Hey! this is Andrew Bates, the voice of Spidey and co-director for this vid! Just wanted to thank you SO much for featuring it on your site! It means so much to us that it’s still affecting people 2 years after we made it! (BTW: You think it’s emotional watching it? Try editing that last part listening to it over and over again! ; ) I shoulda bought stock in Kleenex!) Thank you so much for the kind words and for watching!
LikeLike
Hey there! No problem whatsoever on featuring it, man. I’ve told so many people about this vid over the last few weeks. Every single time I watch it, tears, man. Tears.
The bit I keep quoting to people is May’s parts at the end; the ‘what have you done, boy’ and the talk of ‘not you as well.’ Truly heartbreaking. I even talked in-depth on the vid on that particular week’s podcast.
And no, thank you, sir. Thanks for making and putting such a fantastic piece of work together. You and your team deserve huge props.
LikeLike