If you didn't care for Joker, one way to think about the question is whether someone can do a Joker-type movie done right, or the type of film someone who wrote a positive review of Joker thought they were seeing.
The main criteria is something that focuses on one character, typically an antagonist, and seems to belong in a different genre than the typical superhero movie. It doesn't have to be a homage to Taxi Driver or King of New York; it could be similar to completely different movies (The Fly/ An American Werewolf in London with Curt Connors, Carrie with Doctor Octopus) or its own type of thing.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
I don't care for the movie that got made, but I still like the concept of Joker 2019 (i.e. a low-budget, non-continuity, character-driven take on a villain). I just don't think the movie executed it well. The idea of a solo movie on Joker definitely had potential on paper, it's just that I think the movie took the weakest and least interesting approach.
You are right that it doesn't have to be a homage to gritty '70s movies. I think the main thing is that villains have their own themes and concepts. One advantage that Spider-Man villains usually have is that the majority of them aren't insane even in the comic-book case that Joker is. And not all their stories are about insanity. Like Norman Osborn is crazy but the best stories with him deal with the subtext of capitalism and WASP hegemony. Like a Mysterio movie can be a take on low-budget movies about making movies, i.e. Ed Wood, Living in Oblivion, Bowfinger, Dolemite is My Name, The Disaster Artist with Mysterio starting out as a film student with dreams of making his own Star Wars and working in VFX. He provides stellar work for major hollywood studios but is underpaid, laid-off and his studio shuts down (which happens to many real life VFX people) and ultimately his screenplay pitch for a space opera about the Dark Lord Mysterio becomes his alter ego.The main criteria is something that focuses on one character, typically an antagonist, and seems to belong in a different genre than the typical superhero movie. It doesn't have to be a homage to Taxi Driver or King of New York; it could be similar to completely different movies (The Fly/ An American Werewolf in London with Curt Connors, Carrie with Doctor Octopus) or its own type of thing.
Another movie to consider is David Cronenberg's SCANNERS which is an original science-fiction story but is basically a superhero v. supervillain story and one sequence is basically an Electro movie.
You could do a pretty good movie about Sandman, I'd play his sand abilities more as body horror though.
Pull List:
Marvel Comics: Venom, X-Men, Black Panther, Captain America, Eternals, Warhammer 40000.
DC Comics: The Last God
Image: Decorum
A story like “Flowers for the Rhino” as a movie could be interesting, although it would be hard to establish Rhino as a character before actually doing the main story.
"Anyone can win a fight when the odds are easy! It's when the going's tough - when there seems to be no chance - that's when it counts!" - Spider-Man
... probably a way to do it but the perception would be, "why"? especially if the choice was made to make it rated R.
the most immediate comparison is Green Goblin/Norman Osborn. I suppose you have certain topics like science gone wrong, corporate espionage, etc.; but how to handle it without delving into the greater Marvel Universe? who knows..
i don't see spider-man villains (except Venom) being appropriate for this kind of treatment. i could see someone like The Hood being captivating as a big screen protagonist. but that's because he was introduced in a way that allowed for that kind of storytelling. someone like Norman Osborn's story isn't as simply told.
If I was pitching screenplays to Sony, here would be my top three.
The Vulture- Reimagines Adrian Toomes as the bad guy in a Cape Fear style revenge drama. The main difference is that the murderer hunting down the people who have wronged him can fly.
Octavius- A Carrie type story of a socially awkward scientist who gains power after a terrible accident, and uses it to try to make the world respect him.
Hobgoblin- Set in the world of the Raimi films, this is a superhero origin gone bad. Spider-Man hasn't been seen in over a decade. Industrialist Roderick Kingsley finds Norman Osborn's arsenal, and repurposes it for himself, briefly considering a go as a superhero, before he starts wiping out the opposition. A potential complication may occur when Mayor J. Jonah Jameson allows a scientist to create a new superhero to take on the Hobgoblin, except the Scorpion has other plans.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
They could easily do it with Electro and definitely with Kingpin.
i say Venom even though they have a movie like that but they could make a better one(not a remake)
I think Foolkiller could make for a great movie. I'm not sure if you'd consider him a Spider-man character or not, but the first time I was exposed to him was in a Spider-man story so I'm going to count him.
I know there's been a bunch of different ones over the years, but the general idea of a person that kills those he considers "fools" has lots of potential, especially in todays world of shady celebrities and social media.
On top of that, he has two catch phrases that are almost perfect for movies.
"Live a poem, or die a fool," feels like it would as a great character tagline much like Joker's "Why so serious".
Taking the idea from another Foolkiller, the image of a Fool tarrot card left with the message "are you?" feels like a nice movie poster teaser.