Spider-Man fans know all about the lore of the musicalSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. But have you wanted to know what it was like from behind the scenes? Now is your chance with a brand newgraphic novel fromBrian Michael Bendis! Known for being part of the duo who brought us the character Miles Morales, Bendis has a long and storied history with Marvel and our friendly neighborhood fave. Which does includeworking withJulie Taymoron bringing the musical to life. In a new graphic novel calledFortune and Glory: The Musical, Bendis recountsmeetings for the doomed musical.
Bendis did not end up with a writing crediton the musical,but he did meet with Taymor about the show. In his graphic novel, which details his time with Marvel as well, fans can get a look into his meeting with Taymor. We here at Collider are excited to share an exclusive excerpt fromFortune and Glory: The Musical! In the excerpt, Bendis shares a phone call he had with Taymor prior to meeting about the show. The two are talkingabout Peter Parker’s origins and disagree on what is and is not outdated about them.
As a self-proclaimed superfan of the musical for all its faults, Bendis details his meeting with Taymor that, in many ways, highlights the problems with the musical itself. Or at least the problems that Spidey fans had with it. The show, which also hadmusic fromBonoandThe Edgefromthe rock bandU2,also suffered from a lack of songs. Not to say that there weren’t songs. There were, they just all sound the exact same except for “A Freak Like Me Needs Company,” which is infamous for its depiction of the Sinister Six.
A Musical Everyone Seemingly Wants To Forget
Again, the musical itself ended up being not nearly as bad as people made it out to be. But the issues with it were most definitely linked to the lack of care for Spider-Man’s lore. Arachne was, technically, pulled from the comics. — Bendis' ownUltimate Spider-Mancomic. But it has always been that Peter is bitten by a spider and turned into Spider-Man. What ended up happening in the musical was essentially havingArachne as a weird version of Madame Web.She came to Peter in dreams and the two relied on each other, but it was still not completely comic-accurate and ended up being a weird choice in general.
What happened withTurn Off the Darkwas a lot of misunderstanding, misguidance, and bringing New York’s favorite superhero to audiences in a musical that didn’t really feel like it respected what we loved about Peter Parker. In the excerpt we shared, it is clear that Bendis at least tried to bring more of his own Spider-Man knowledge into things, but we all know what happened in the end. Or if you don’t, just know thatSpider-Man: Turn Off the Darkleft Broadway as a laughingstock that did actuallyget one of its performers killed.
Bendis' graphic novel,Fortune and Glory: The Musical,is available on January 21. You canlisten to the Broadway cast recordingofSpider-Man: Turn Off the Darknow, if you dare.
