STRAND: I don’t care about her now that you’re here. She was just a lure. (he let’s go of her) It’s hard to get a meeting with you, young man. MJ goes to Spider-Man. She seems to be okay. Strand comes over to them. He gestures to the world laid out at Peter’s feet, like it’s something he made just for him. The city glitters like a billion jewels, as far as the eye can see.
Cameron’s scriptment
Peter tells him to let her go and Strand shrugs.
STRAND: Relax, kid. I just want to talk. SPIDER-MAN: About what? STRAND: About you. About your career. Think of me as a kind of guidance counselor. So let’s take your chosen field... hero. See? Bad choice. I’m recommending against it. SPIDER-MAN: It’s not up to you. Strand goes to the window and looks down. He puts his hands on his hips, surveying the world below like some wise lord. STRAND: Think about it. You can’t save the world. Why? Because you can’t save people from themselves... from their own brutal and venal natures. You’re either a predator of prey in this world. A killer or a victim. People are by nature violent, stupid, confused, greedy. Why waste your gift on the ungrateful masses, who would love to see your mask ripped off and see you dragged through the slime. The only thing they love more than a hero is to see that hero fail, fall, screw-up... to see him exposed in a scandal, arrested with his pants down, caught with his hands in the till. You know why? It lets them feel better about their own miserable lives. He turns dramatically to face Spider-Man. He moves closer, his voice hypnotic. STRAND: It’s a myth that people need heroes. People hate heroes! Heroes make them feel bad! By creating examples they can never live up to. As long as the media can show, day after day, that the people they respect and admire are just as twisted inside as they are... they’re reassured. They can sleep at night. They can face their puffy faces in the mirror in the morning. MJ looks at Spider-Man. It is impossible to read his expression through the mask from her perspective (though by clever lighting we will be able to see the uncertainty in his eyes). 73