Development on a live-action Spider-Man film began in the mid 1980s. Filmmakers Tobe Hooper, Joseph Zito, and James Cameron were all attached to direct the film at one point. However, the project would languish in development hell due to licensing and financial issues. After progress on the film stalled for nearly 25 years, it was licensed for a worldwide release by Columbia Pictures in 1999 after it acquired options from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on all previous scripts developed by Cannon Films, Carolco, and New Cannon.
Like many people over the holidays, I spent some time – maybe too much – playing one of the most popular and best reviewed video games of 2018: “Spider-Man.”
While I thought I’d be taking a break from chemistry research, I found myself web-swinging through virtual research missions all over New York City. I collected samples of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Hell’s Kitchen, studied vehicle emissions in Chinatown and determined the chemical composition of atmospheric particulate matter in Midtown.