Spider-Man, the Musical!

Bono and the Edge will provide the tunes and lyrics, and Julie Taymor will direct, according to this Marvel Studios statement. No opening date confirmed yet.

Spiderman
Spiderman
Does whatever a
Spider can…

Wow, does that sound like a trainwreck in the making!

It’ll be like Tarzan, with puppets…

Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot / they rob and they steal but they always get caught…
BATMAN!

Hey, if it was good enough for Captain America, Peanuts, The Last Starfighter, and Doonesbury, it’s good enough for Spidey.

A Musical? About Spiderman?

You might as well do one about The King of Siam or even the common housecat.

Mary Jane, say it loud and there’s music playing, say it soft and it’s almost like prayinggggggg.

Or the alien costume;

Sling once again with me, your strange silhouette
My power over you grows stronger yet.
And though you turn from me, to glance behind
The alien symbiote is there, inside your mind.

Apparently, there was going to be a Batman musical, but it never made it to the stage. Same thing with Captain America. Superman made it, but didn’t fare well. There must be some strange superhero-musical meme I’m not aware of.

Non-musical stasge superheros have fared well, though. Warp was put on at two widely separated times by Chicago’s Organic Theater Company, and later appeared as a comic book inspired by the show (Although the show flopped when it played in New York)

*Evil Dead: The Musical * is apparently pretty awesome. I also remember hearing about Neil Gaiman collaborating on a Sandman musical with Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields (and collaborator with Daniel “Lemony Snicket” Handler in the Gothic Archies). That project seems to have fallen by the wayside, though.

As for this, I have all the faith in the world in Julie Taymor, especially after seeing her awe-inspiring Lion King musical on the stage earlier this year. Her films Frida and Titus are visual spectacles on par with the most interesting movies by Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and Michael Gondry. I also respect Bono and The Edge as musicians, and I know they are huge comic book fanboys who would be tickled and honored to work on a Spider-Man musical.

Even musicals that sound like they could be about superheros tank. Witness The Capeman.

I’ve seen it, and “awesome” doesn’t even begin to describe how great it is. “Religious” might be a better word.

I’m only exaggerating a little bit. :wink:

Of course, I sincerely doubt that Taymor will be able to replicate the success of Evil Dead by dumping gallons of blood on the audience.

Webbing, maybe.
(“Mildred? What’s this white stuff you’re covered with? It’s all sticky…”)

A Spider-Man musical? I wonder why no one has tried this before?