Superhero Conventions in Spiderman(2002)

     Many films within the superhero genre contain many conventions, that are associated with the superhero genre specifically. Even if the film is a parody, or a skit of a certain film, they can still contain conventions from the superhero genre. The film Spiderman(2002) is no exception. 

    First of all, a convention that spiderman contains, (and probably one of the most important ones) is the costume. Every superhero needs a costume, which identifies themselves as the superhero. This can be for many reasons. The main is to hide that hero's identity. The character usual reasoning for consuming their identity, is to protect those that he loves. This is what Peter decides to do. He produces a bright red and blue costume, with the Spiderman logo on the chest. The logo is also another convention for superhero films. A logo's purpose is to make us remember this superhero. We should be able to identify a superhero, just by looking at their logo. For example: in Spiderman(2002), Spiderman's logo, is the top-down spider. As soon as we see the spider logo, the viewer instantly thinks of Spiderman. Every good superhero film must have a villain. Someone who isn't invincible, but someone who does appear a threat to the main hero, and conveys to the audience as a strong challenger to the hero. In this case, the Green Goblin (Spiderman's nemesis) is the villain. His helmet scares the viewer, with it's feral and sharp looks. Also, the film contains many fight sequences where the Green Goblin does manage to defeat Spiderman, and the Green Goblin does manage to hurt the ones he loves, after his discovery of Spiderman's true identity, only moments after a recent duel they had in a burning building. Without a villain, like the Green Goblin, there would be nothing the Superhero could fight against. Despite the fact the hero could just fight crime, the viewer, will be a lot more interested in watching, a super villain with interesting powers or super abilities. On most occasions, the hero has a love interest. This is someone the hero is very close with, and who is prioritised by the hero. Spiderman's love-interest is Mary-Jane-Watson; a girl who grew up with Peter throughout childhood. Of course, the villain finds a way to threaten and confront Spiderman by threatening him with her life. A lot of superhero films do this. Almost all superhero films, are hybrid genre's/ As a lot of them are also members of the Action genre. Superhero films wouldn't be as appealing to audiences, if the action factor of the film wasn't present. Mostly, the action is provided by using explosions, gunshots, police chases, criminals etc. Spiderman contains all of these factors that have just been listed. A superhero film would not be appealing without this. Spiderman is set in New York, which is an extremely large city. This is the conventional setting for superhero films, The reason this is, is because a large city means a high chance of disaster. The large buildings can be used for many opportunities for destruction, which make for great action sequences and great special effects. Finally, a superhero wouldn't be super without special abilities(according to the definition) Spiderman's abilities is to shoot out organic webs from his hands, which he uses for swinging from building, disarming enemies, and pacifying enemies. He can also climb, and has a spider sense, which is useful in many situations.

      These conventions, imply that Spiderman(2002) is defenitely a film from the Supergero genre.