Brian Michael Bendis brought on as 'consult' for Spider-Man reboot.

Confirming what was long suspected, Sony and Marvel have officially hired the current king of Marvel Comics, Brian Michael Bendis, as a consultant for the upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Without explicitly stating as much, Bendis pretty much acknowledged that the new 'younger, edgier, teen-friendly' Spider-Man picture will be pretty much an adaptation of Bendis's (and artist Mark Bagley's) acclaimed Ultimate Spider-Man comic book which has run since 2000. Considering the script is already written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), it will be interesting to see where Vanderbilt's script and Bendis's initial story-arcs end up merging. Whatever issues I have with the reboot on principle, at least Sony is bringing the right person aboard. Now how about cutting a check to Greg Weisman too. He was one of the brains behind the fantastic cartoon, Spectacular Spider-Man, which deals with the same general time-line in intelligent, character-driven fashion. Anyway, if you want a general idea of what the new movie will feel like, take a gander at the first thirteen issues of Ultimate Spider-Man or pick up the first season DVD set of The Spectacular Spider-Man. Both are top-quality Spidey stories.

Scott Mendelson