Tobe Hooper's Abandoned Spider-Man Movie Was A Body Horror Nightmare
Director Tobe Hooper's unmade take on Spider-Man went full-on body horror and would have been a monster movie instead of a superhero flick. This take on Spider-Man was set up by b-movie icons Cannon, who were responsible for the likes of American Ninja, Invasion U.S.A. and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. Cannon aimed to branch out and produce bigger budget fare, but their famous tendency to slash budgets ended up hurting the likes of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, which was saddled with poor special effects.
The late, great Tobe Hooper is best remembered for his savage masterpiece Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which was inspired by a true story. He worked with Cannon on three back-to-back projects in the 1980s. The first was Lifeforce, a bonkers blockbuster that was a bomb, while Hooper's follow-ups Invaders From Mars and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 were also financial disappointments. It was during this era that Cannon approached Hooper about directing a VERY different take on Spider-Man.
Related: Tobe Hooper's The Thing Plan Was A Sci-Fi Moby Dick
Cannon had licensed Spider-Man from Marvel for over $200,000, but while they knew the comic was hugely popular, they misunderstood the core concept. They thought Spider-Man was a monster character like The Wolf Man or The Fly, and a writer was hired to pen a take where Peter Parker becomes a literal Spider-Man. In this version, Peter is an ID photographer mutated by evil scientist Dr. Zork into an eight-limbed mutant. Instead of leading Zork's army of mutant creations, «Spider-Man» Peter Parker breaks free and decides to fight back instead.
Tobe Hooper's Spider-Man doesn't sound far off of Man-Spider from the comics and animated series, which was a version of Peter Parker
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