The movie rumor that launched a friendship

The year was...oh Jesus, let's not do that, it's too depressing. Long ago (very long ago), in the land of Illinois, two young boys discovered...okay, now this sounds like gay porn. Um, howsabout...When I was in middle school, I met my best friend Andrew because we were both nerds. I was talkative, obnoxious nerd (I know, shocker), and he was quiet, introspective nerd. Andrew will tell you that he loathed me when he first met me, a natural reaction that I am told is powered by my potent hate-inducing pheromones. What bridged the gap (besides a crazy kid we both knew), was the rumors of James Cameron directing a Spider-man movie. It mean seem like no biggie now, but consider that at the time, there had been exactly two good superhero installments (Superman 2, and Batman)...EVER. So news that the guy behind Aliens was contemplating making a Spider-man movie wasn't just nerd catnip, it was the sort of thing that could be discussed and analyzed ad nauseum (seriously, we made people vomit). Fast forward a boatload of Oscars and two great Spider-man movies (and please-oh-please at least one more) from Sam Raimi, and it is somewhat intriguing that Cameron still hasn't fully kicked the Spidey bug. In an interview with MTV, Jimmy C noted that "Spider-Man was the only one I ever wanted to do. I wasn't really personally that driven to do a superhero movie per se, but I wanted to do Spider-Man because he was my guy when I was 14," insightfully adding "Spider-Man was the shit and everybody else sucked." Amen, Mr. Cameron. Amen. Now, this isn't "news" per se, as the likelihood of Cameron hopping in line to direct the FIFTH Spider-man movie (especially after Avatar and the long-long-long rumored "Battle Angel Alita" adaptation) is somewhere between "sha-right" and "as if." Still, if Avatar drains the fluid from our bodies like it's supposed to, and if Raimi begs out of the Spidey series (as he likely will because of World of Warcraft) it isn't TOO crazy to think someone would at least gauge his interest. I want to go on record that I am NOT in any way saying this non-story should be labeled "Cameron wants to do next Spider-man movie," so much as I am reminiscing about once discussing such things and noting that I like living in a world where it's still, no matter how improbable, possible.