I’d really love to see something akin to “Kraven’s Last Hunt”. Substitute Vermin for the Lizard, add some more action scenes, and you’ve got a pretty great story that would really steer the franchise in an intelligent and redeeming direction. Follow early Dr. Connors/Lizard appearances, though I’d personally keep him mainly more primal, having little to no dialogue in scaly form. Attempting to turn humanity into reptilian brethren does sound especially Sam Raimi B-movie shlock, but I’m not so sure how that’d come off on film. So I think I’d primarily keep him in the savage Todd McFarlane “humanoid velociraptor” portrayal. Also obviously alter the setting of his first appearance transmutation in the Florida everglades to the cesspools of New York City.
The interesting thing about the Lizard’s that, while perhaps he is yet another addition to the annals of duality dueling “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” inspired comic book caricatures, he’s also Peters close friend and inspiration. There in lies more drama than most villains. There’s a relationship outside of their otherworldly battle royals, no re-writes necessary. No unnecessary sympathy cords need to be edited into this origin story. No sick daughters and no brain-warping robotic arms making good people go bad, preventing the little kiddies from seeing genuine villainy. I’m not bitter. Anyway, empathy’s already included in the Lizards comic back-story. The personal connection felt between Parker and Osborne’s what made the Green Goblin into something truly memorable, so it is with the Lizard, merely overlooked. Spider-man’s put into a position in which he’s forced to literally beat upon someone he truly cares for. That’s powerful stuff that I’ve always felt was undersold as far as the characters worth goes.
We have people obsessing over (IMO) shallow villains like Venom and Carnage merely on murder merit. That doesn’t make a character. It’s their ethics and reasoning behind their oftentimes horrendous actions that truly defines what villains honestly are. Whether they be conscious of their amorality or otherwise. I’ve always felt that Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, and the Lizard have had the largest effect upon Spider-Man throughout his mythos. All these characters added something far more personal then any of the others. Whether it be (purposely or otherwise) killing a loved one, drastically psychologically damaging Parker, having a personal relationship together outside the heightened heroics, or a bit of all three, they really stole the show away from the others. They’re almost all fun rivals, but those four had the most depth and/or won the greatest achievements over our friendly neighborhood hero. Utilize them, not the glorified bank robbers and one-dimensional galactic goop!
Being most feel the Lizard’s only the natural progression of the story and, considering the animalistic side of that role, this is the time to utilize the Great White Hunter. Every other villain would seem tacked on, whereas Kraven meshes perfectly with the Lizard. He may seem a bizarre choice. I’d have thought so too, that is before I read “Kravens Last Hunt,” in which they took (all be it) this B-grade villain that no one ever gave much of a glance to and truly transformed him into something profoundly deep, threatening, and even tragic. Splice in portions from the early Kraven stories, him hearing murmurs of some Lizard man in the sewers of the concrete jungle, maimed bodies turning up, desperate to hunt what’s never been hunted. He’s desperate for the catch, something that brings meaning back into his life. Enter Kraven the Hunter - Battling the man that took down his hunt: Spider-Man.
Of course for being a rather long-winded post that’s the shorthand of the script I’ve written in my head. Follow that and I believe you’d have a Grade A story.
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