Power and Responsibility
Boretz on set of Spiderman
The quote "with great power comes great responsibility" is potentially the most recognizable line in relation to the superhero, Spider-Man. Created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man is a well-known American comic-book character. The character has been featured in numerous animated and live-action films, with the most well-known sets of films starring actors like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland as the titular character. However, these recent cycles of Spider-Man films were not the first to bring Spider-Man to the screen. In 1977, Columbia Pictures International acquired the first feature film to star the superhero Spider-Man. Written by Alvin Boretz and produced by Danchuck Productions, the film premiered on CBS on September 14th and became the highest-performing CBS production for the year.
The film's production involved dangerous and expensive rigging for stunts, and the writing process for Boretz was equally daunting. Since this was the first film starring Spider-Man, Stan Lee was involved in Boretz's writing process. Lee and Marvel Comics provided the "Origins" of the character, notes on the script, and the characterization of the hero. After the premiere of the film, a series was ordered to capitalize on the success and was titled The Amazing Spider-Man. Boretz retitled the film to work as the series' pilot episode called "The Mind Stealers" but was not brought back to work on the thirteen-episode series. The series starred Nicholas Hammond and ran from 1977 until 1979 before it was canceled.
The success of Spider-Man as a television film serves as an example of how Boretz's dedication to researching his subjects, even a comic book superhero, elevated his writing to allow the film to deliver an accurate and entertaining portrayal of Spider-Man. If writing is power, and the devotion to exploring complex, provoking topics is a responsibility that a writer can feel, Boretz is an excellent example of how a writer can balance both "great power" and "great responsibility."
