Alternate ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Movie Web-Shooter Designs Arrive Online

More technical designs from the Amazing Spider-Man movie have arrived online, spotlighting some of what designer Ron Mendell initially had in mind for the Webslinger's main mode of transportation. While the current design in the film (and its upcoming sequel) seem more compact and wristwatch-like as in the Ultimate Spider-Man titles, some of the unused schematics seem to hew closely to Spidey co-creator Steve Ditko's bulkier original design.

Spider-Man's web-shooters have generally played a big part in the character's history as they serve as a concrete example of Peter Parker's scientific and engineering acumen. They were omitted in favor of "organic" web-shooters in Sam Raimi's 2002-2007 Spider-Man movie trilogy, a move echoed in Marvel's comics circa 2004 in the "Disassembled" storyline. The reason for the shift in Raimi's films was partially attributed to Peter being bitten by a genetically-modified spider rather than a simply radioactive one in the films, but the principal reason was to simplify his origin and powers. In the comics, on the other hand, the reason for the shift was... complicated.

ASM director Marc Webb has since restored mechanical web-shooters to his Spider-Movies, telling Hero Complex back in 2011, "That was one thing but the other thing was the fact that the web-shooters were able to dramatize Peter's intellect and I thought that was really cool. ... It was in the comics and we have a different design but it's a cool element to have."

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is slated to arrive in theaters on May 2, 2014. Depending on the film's storytelling priorities, the web-shooters may figure into the narrative and continue their design evolution.

[Editor's note: I hope Andrew Garfield has a straight up Spider-Bracelet in ASM2 - Caleb]

[Via CBM]