May 17, 2002
Aunt May, Take Five
Any number of factors have been credited with the fabulous success of Spider-Man not the least of which being a spine-tingling publicity campaign. Devising such a blitz, however, is a delicate and precarious undertaking: one false note can sour an otherwise brilliant campaign. Take, for example, the amusing catchphrase that ended most of the Spider-Man promos: a withered Aunt May croaked, "You do too much, Peter. You're not Superman." If only she knew!
Screenwriter David Koepp laboured long and hard to craft this memorable jibe, discarding several other, less-impactful versions of the joke along the way. Thanks to our exclusive Hollywood connections, only Fametracker can bring you this list of eleven discarded catchphrases for Aunt May:
"You do too much, Peter. You're not Shazam."
"You swim too much, Peter. You're not Aquaman."
"You can't compel ants to do your bidding, Peter. You're not Ant Man."
"You can't change into any water- or ice-based object, while your sister changes into the animal of her choice, Peter. You're not the Wonder Twins."
"You can't sail towards South America, then be killed before your fleet completes their circumnavigation of the globe, Peter. You're not Magellan."
"You can't host a failed late-night talk show, then skulk back to your early-evening game-show hosting duties, Peter. You're not Pat Sajak."
"You can't leave a comprehensive and compelling collection of letters detailing public and private life in the heyday of the Roman Empire, Peter. You're not Pliny the Elder.
"You can't marry Burt Reynolds, Peter. You're not Loni Anderson."
"You can, however, have a long and successful career in the American film market, Peter. You're not Julia Ormond."
"You can't scare me with your freakish grimacing, Peter. You're not Willem Dafoe."
"You can't make me laugh, Peter. You're not Carrot Top."
|