stevenwaitewrites

Latest Posts

  • Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

    It probably isn’t immediately obvious on this platform that I’m a Spider-Man fan. Fan may be understating it, but I consider myself an avid lover Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Web-Head; I’ve spent my life consuming comics, cartoons, toys, video games, well, you name it. In fact there are very few characters in media that I would say had an absolutely massive impact on me growing up that would have any form of edge on Peter “Spider-Man” Parker.

    Now, the most significant media to me for this character outside of the comics (which can vary wildly between writer and artist) – though I adore MacFarlane, Romita, Romita Jr, and Bagley – for me, Spider-Man the Animated Series (1995) is the toppest top.

    Written by John Semper and with the fantastic Christopher Daniel Barnes bringing our hero to life is probably my own personal pinnacle for Spidey. The perfect balance of wit, heart, and spidering the character felt balanced and authentic. Even if I did happen to adopt the verbal tic of “Sheesh” for nearly a decade.

    This isn’t a review of the 1995 series. But, I want to be clear that that’s where my heart is when it comes to the wall crawler, things that followed have been superb and frankly Spider-Man fans have never gone hungry even with maligned adaptations or spin-offs souring the palate somewhat (side-eying you Madame Web).

    Other Spider-Men have done superb work with the hero and I don’t have the bandwidth to explain the why – but, Patrick-Harris, Keaton, Lowenthal, Maguire, Garfield, all deserve an honourable mention (and articles of their own) – with each adaptation learning from the one before it and delivering performances that draw on parts of the Web Swingers history in their own way – and, as I’ve said already: fans have eaten well.

    You may notice I’ve been quiet on Holland. Intentional, but not out of spite. Holland’s movies as our heroic Wall Crawler have been slow growing, taking three movies to build on the characters earlier adventures and to develop into the confident Hero we know him to be. This made his movies a little jarring for me, as the Spider-Man persona always swung around confidently, striking his enemies with wit and technology that sets him apart from every other Marvel character – there is a reason why Spider-Man is Marvel’s Flagship character. So having Peter’s growth as Spider-Man feel slow and mired by the involvement of other MCU characters always made the character seem ‘cheaper’ by comparison to versions of the Hero that stood unsupported by the wider-universe.

    We know that the writers didn’t ‘decide’ to make Holland’s movies so dependant on MCU cameos, part of the agreements for Marvel to use the character in movies from Sony was that it had to identify largely as an MCU movie and not as a “standalone” Spider-Movie. So there’s no blame outside of corporate politics for the slightly stunted ascent the latest iteration has had.

    But now, I’m truly delighted that Holland’s Spider-Man has really stepped into his own. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is not just Holland’s strongest Spider-Man movie to date (which it is, in spades) but also one of the strongest Spider-Man movies. Period.

    It learns not only from previous adventures in the “Home” series, but also has taken the genius decision to adopt stylings and choices from other forms of Spider-Media, most evidently the videogames by Insomniac.

    A combination of evolving elements to Peter’s circumstances, the way Spider-Man is presented, and Holland’s own abilities make Peter and Spider-Man a truly authentic and compelling iteration. The action sequences felt well thought out and well distributed to stop the movie feeling punch-heavy, and while I’m generally anti-MCU cameo the ones present had a driving force on the narrative and weren’t just there to provide a deus ex machina for a struggling hero.

    I have to make a particular note to praise Holland and Bernthal, I was incredibly sceptical about a heavy Punisher involvement but I cannot praise the pair enough. Peter and Frank have the most authentic Marvel relationship I’ve seen in any Marvel movie, and they elevated this to new heights with a balance of wit, and heart that hasn’t been done this strongly before for me. I loved every second the pair were on screen and I sincerely hope that if this long-term arrangement with Sony continues that Frank (Bernthal) becomes a staple in Peter’s (Holland’s) network – this isn’t about replacing a mentor in Tony Stark, but actually giving Spider-Man a friend. Let’s face it “The Parker Luck” is a great reason for Marvel to give Pete the short end of the stick at any occasion (readas torture and suffering), but there has to be some light in the heroes life – and if that’s Frank Castle, well, I’m on board with that.

    The only let downs for me in the movie pale compared to it’s praise. Sadie Sink, in a fantastic performance, revealing herself as a long-time Marvel character was both expected and unfortunately felt a bit too much like Doomsday Setup – same can be said for Banner’s Hulk, which ate much the narrative space.

    Secondly, more of a pet peeve, is that I’m not sure why this iteration of Spidey decides to walk so much, or takes an elevator – I appreciate “it’s a secure building” or whatever, but a note that should be observed from games, and even 1995 is that Peter Parker walks, Spider-Man wall crawls, he hangs from webs, he sips coffee upside down – he burns himself – but that’s the charm.

    Seeing a man in a Spider-Suit mosey through a busy office was character breaking, and even in later sections on Frank’s Boat Spidey felt very un-Spider-like – it didn’t ruin the movie but it was a miring question that throbbed like a splinter.

    All being said, my personal irks aside, I loved the movie, it was an adventure – and after seeing Odyssey the same day it was a much needed pulse of wit, humour, and heart, and goes no small lengths to show how well Tom Holland has grown into his role as our favourite wall-crawling wonder!

    S

  • Once again, with feeling

    The common mark up I give myself when editing my work is “more emotion” or “what are they feeling”. Its a valid note. In my writing I lean towards the mechanics of a scene, positioning of characters, light touches, temperature, sound: things I can feel. Yet, not what I feel.

    If that makes sense.

    My Wife has the opposite ‘problem’, her writing is amazing and filled with engaging prose that drives you forward led by holding onto the sleeve of the protagonist and their emotional journey. But, I sometimes struggle with it because in my mind I can’t place all my pretty pieces neatly in a row, or I’m wondering exactly how tall that character is when he gets into his car – you know, needling.

    Particularly now as I’m editing I’m trying to lever myself away from function and more into emotion, trying to leave the great grand battles I’ve written between man and machine alone, and instead try and nudge my reader into the thoughts and feelings of the titular hero or his companions. It’s one of the many ways my Wife has helped my writing improve in the twenty-plus years we’ve been writing together.

    And, one of the reasons why I look forward to seeing how much more it’ll develop, as we feedback on each others works.

    So, ladies and gentlemen, once more: with feeling!

    S

    p.s. I’ve just learned that this blog is wired up to email any new post to subscribers – so, feel free to burden yourself with me directly by subscribing! Hugs and kisses.

  • The Hook

    Now, I want to make it clear that this is a personal bugbear of mine – namely, “The Hook” at the end of a chapter.

    I’m not anti-Hook, but chapters in recent memory are shorter and often used to break up shifts in perspective – and sometimes can be just a couple of pages long – this, for me, is too short of a line to attach a hook onto. My heart just can’t take it.

    I’m not going to pretend my chapters don’t end with a hook, but I am currently sitting 17 chapters, start to finish. With some breaking the 10k word limit I set myself per chapter – and that feels manageable. But, giving me three pages of quick exposition with a hook sends me into a spiral of “just put it down” and “one more chapter”, yet the latter is done bitterly as I feel I have been coerced into it by a strong arm, rather than enticed.

    Rant over. Off-topic, no, actually ON-topic, it’s my website after all: Nolan’s Odyssey looks fantastic but I fear I may have Holland / Bernthal burnout after Spider-Man: Brand New Day and then Odyssey. Ah, who am I kidding, I’ll take them both in spades – fantastic people and a credit to their professions, both!

    May have to add them to the man-crush list…which is getting long enough to warrant long judgemental looks and leading questions from my therapist.


    S

  • The Editing Loop > The Editing Loop > The Editing…

    Do you ever have that feeling of deja vu?

    I’m sure I don’t need to explain deja vu, movies and TV shows have used that trope plenty with my favourite example being from The Matrix (1999). It’s feeling a little like that with my Editing Loop.

    My process currently is write a chapter, read the chapter, edit the chapter, move on. This is how I get the story out onto the page, this edit is linear, a one-time pass to catch horrendous spelling or grammar mistakes (that aren’t just a quirk of my voice – hey, stop laughing!), as well as closing or opening some plot holes accordingly.

    Now that I’ve run out of chapters I’m back at the beginning and editing has become a spiral: read, edit, re-read, re-edit, re-re-read…and “woah, deju vu“. But a spiral has to end at some point…right? (I’m looking at you Sam Lake) – now, to work out whether I’m spiralling up, or…spiralling down.

    S

  • The Calm After the Storm

    It’s a strange feeling to have written a thing from start to it’s end – strange to have poured so much time into it, especially when it first began eight years ago. Reading back over my writing there are moments where I can confidently correct and change to fit my writing style as it’s changed – but, the best part of editing, is finding those small slivers that make me stop and smile. They remind me of why I started writing when I was a kid, why I continued to write, how I found writing in almost every facet of my life – my home, my work, my hobbies, it doesn’t stop. It shouldn’t.

    S

  • Website launch! Latest draft ready to edit!

    I’m not entirely certain on what made me finally pull the trigger on a website and domain, but it was certainly related to finally completing the first (actual) draft of my first novel:

    The Professor & the Girl Who Fell.

    It’s a strange thing to say out loud, or put out there as it’s been something I’ve been working on for over eight years now – and yes, my words per minute, or even week by that metric is going to be awful – I do raise a pandemic, redundancy, two new jobs, oh, and an absolutely amazing child to my defence.

    So, what’s next?

    I don’t like this question because it make me realise how intimidating my “to-do” list actually is – but, top of my list is EDIT. The second thing is populate this website with content.

    My plan is to complement my story/stories with additional short form content here as well as general blog posts to keep me surfaced and available. It’s all new to me. I’ve only ever written for personal projects and fun, so now…with a plan in mind, or at least six cats in a trench coat of a plan: I invite you to watch this space.

    S