"SPIDER-MAN" by David Koepp Based on Characters Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko FADE IN: EXT. A BACK ALLEY - DAY The screen is filled by the face of PETER PARKER, a seventeen year old boy. High school must not be any fun for Peter, he's one hundred percent nerd- skinny, zitty, glasses. His face is just frozen there, a cringing expression on it, which strikes us odd until we realize the image is freeze framed. PETER (V.O.) Look, I'm going to warn you right up front. If somebody told you this was a happy story, if somebody said I was just your average, ordinary seventeen year old, not a care in the world... The image un-freezes. A FIST, at the end of a right hook, comes into frame and punches poor Peter. His head snaps back and bounces forward, his eyes roll. PETER (V.O.) (cont'd) ...somebody lied. The image freezes again, Peter's glasses dangling from one ear. PETER (V.O.) (cont'd) That's me. Peter Parker. A.K.A. Spider-Man, but not yet. Gotta go through some ritual humiliation first. All right, I didn't want you to see me like this, but we might as well get it over with. The image unfreezes again, another fist comes into frame, this one a left cross. It CRUNCHES into Peter's nose and he crumples to the pavement in this alley in the city. THREE HIGH SCHOOL PUNKS commence pounding the crap out of him. FLASH THOMPSON is the leader, he's seventeen, good-looking, body of a twenty-eight year old. FLASH You do NOT talk to her! How many times I gotta tell you that? Do you listen when I talk? Hey! I asked you a question! Do you LISTEN when I'm talking to you?! PETER Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. This enrages Flash; he punches Peter in the ribs. Peter groans in pain. FLASH Next time you're gonna pay, puny Parker, you are gonna pay. Peter spits out some blood. PETER Will a credit card be okay? The other two Punks laugh, they find Peter kind of amusing. This upsets Flash even more, he picks up a garbage can and is about to bring it down on Peter's head when a voice from behind stops him. M.J. What kind of man- They turn. A girl stands in the entrance to the alley- MARY JANE WATSON, seventeen, painfully sexy already, with a knowledge and sadness in her eyes that are way beyond her years. M.J. (cont'd) -picks on a helpless little dweeb? PETER Look, I know you mean that in a good way... Flash raises the trash can again. M.J. Leave him alone, Flash. Frustrated, Flash upends the trash can, dumping its contents on Peter's head and tossing it aside. He and the other Punks head for the mouth of the alley, leaving Peter behind, covered in garbage, humiliated. M.J. lingers, for a moment it's just the two of them in the alley. PETER Thanks, M.J. She squints at him. Have we met? He gets up and follows her out of the alley. PETER (cont'd) Next door... M.J. Huh? PETER That's what I was trying to say on the bus, I live right next door to you. And I'm in your biology class. They round a corner out of the alley, and we see- EXT. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - DAY -they're in Manhattan, in front of an impressive old building on the Columbia campus. A yellow school bus is parked at the curb; a bunch of HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS scurry like insects up the marble steps. A stressed out TEACHER with a clipboard is next to the bus. TEACHER People, please, no wandering! If you are a Midtown High School student on the field trip, I need you in the building now! PETER (to M.J.) This class. Our class. (no recognition) I'm Peter. M.J. (I've never seen you before in my life) Oh yeah! Well, you better get away from me. Flash has a real temper, and I might not be there to save your butt next time. PETER I was doing fine. She reaches out, wipes a bit of blood from his lower lip. Slowly. She smiles. M.J. Sure you were, Tiger. She disappears into the crowd. Peter sighs, and sits at the edge of a fountain, starts cleaning himself off. He watches her walk away. She owns his heart. Ours too. We go with M.J. as she heads into the building. She passes a Town Car with tinted windows that's parked at the curb. She stares, sighs to herself, a heartsick look on her face. Whoever's inside, he owns her heart. INSIDE THE TOWN CAR, HARRY OSBORN, seventeen, sits in the back seat, next to NORMAN OSBORN, fiftyish. Harry has already inherited a lot from his father- a receding hairline, some disquieting facial tics, and, presumably, a fortune. Norman stares out the window, shaking his head. HARRY Anything wrong, Dad? You hardly said a word all the way from the house. OSBORN You'll have to get dinner yourself tonight, I need to work. HARRY They say if you talk about something that worries you, you take away its power. OSBORN I was under the impression you asked me to give you a lift, not deliver a speech on the way. HARRY (stung) Sorry. Norman looks at him, something very definitely on his mind. He glances up, notices the DRIVER's eyes in the rear view mirror as they dart away from him. OSBORN John? Would you mind? DRIVER Not at all, sir. ON THE STREET, A few students notice the Driver as he gets out of the Town Car, closes the door, and stands beside it, hands clasped in front of him. STUDENT Osborn. Gotta be Osborn. IN THE TOWN CAR, Norman turns to his son. OSBORN I don't appreciate the amateur psychoanalysis. Maybe you should stop seeing Dr. Hirsch, you're starting to think you've got his degree. HARRY Is it the company? If there's a problem, you could tell me about it. Is there? OSBORN Considering OsCorp's market capitalization just exceeded the gross national product of Spain, the answer to your question is no, there's nothing wrong at the company. HARRY Then what? OSBORN How many private academies have you been kicked out of? (Harry looks away) Has it sunk in for you that you're now attending a public school? Are you aware of the ramifications of that? HARRY (feebly) I like it better. OSBORN One day you will inherit OsCorp. One day you will run my company. My grandfather's company. Since you asked, Harry, that's what worries me. In fact, it terrifies me. Harry mumbles something inaudible, humiliated. OSBORN (cont'd) You may have been given the name Osborn, but you haven't earned it. ON THE STREET, A rear door SLAMS and the Town Car pulls away fast, leaving Harry on the curb. The first thing he sees is Peter Parker, who has finished cleaning himself up at the fountain and is looking at the Town Car enviously- wow, a chauffeured ride. HARRY What are you looking at? He turns and stalks up the steps of the building. Peter sighs. Rough morning. TOUR GUIDE (O.S.) There are more than 32,000 species of spider in the world. INT. COLUMBIA GENETIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE - DAY Thirty-odd students are lead around a cavernous laboratory by a TOUR GUIDE. They pass a number of large spider exhibits. TOUR GUIDE They are in the order Aranae, which is divided into three sub-orders- Mesothelea, Orthognatha, and Labidognatha. All spiders are carnivorous, ravenous eaters who feed on massive quantities of protein, in liquid form, usually the juices of their prey. Arachnids from each of the three groups possess varying strengths which help them in their constant search for food. Peter, who wears a 35MM camera around his neck, keeps his eye on M.J. She's with Flash Thompson again, his arm draped possessively over her shoulder. Peter winces and turns away, back to the tour. Hurts to look. The Guide points out a specific group of spiders in a glass-walled tank. TOUR GUIDE (cont'd) For example, the jumping spider- family Salticidae, genus Salticus- can leap up to forty times its body length, thanks to a proportionate muscle strength vastly greater than that of a human being.