Interview: Roger King Talks About His Spider-Man Webseries PETER’S WEB

Peter’s Web (2011) Spider-Man (Roger King)

How much do you love Spider-Man? Do you love him enough to make a fan film? Do you love him enough to do a full one hour webseries by yourself? Probably not, but one fan did. Roger King created a one hour webseries called “Peter’s Web” back in 2011. It ran for six episodes and is an amazing achievement. Not only is the running time amazing – the first and last episodes are longer than an hour with the others clocking in at 30 minutes – but he also starred in the series as Peter Parker and did the writing, directing and most of the special effects. It was real guerrilla film making at it’s finest.

I had to have a brief interview with him since I couldn’t believe one guy really did all this.

Maurice Mitchell: For those not familiar with the series, what is “Peter’s Web”?

Roger King: “Peter’s Web” was a Spider-Man fan film series that I dove into unintentionally. It started as me wanting to knock out a quick one minute YouTube vid and it snowballed into a 3-year series. It was pure strain and struggle and passion and fulfillment. I either completely lost my mind through creating the series or learned just how nuts I already was.

MM: You mentioned that you were 99.9999999% influenced by the comics. Was there a specific issue or series that served as inspiration?

RK: I was inspired by pretty much the full early 90s and late 80s storylines. Venom, the Black Suit, Kraven’s Last Hunt, the Black Cat, Sinister Six, etc. Lots of [Todd] McFarlane and Erik Larson’s stuff influenced many aspects as well.

MM: I see a lot of that influence in there Roger. How did you line up talent and resources for the project?

RK: I rounded up talent anywhere and every where. My personal training clients, just random people I met over the years: family, friends, casting websites, Craigslist, etc. I was casting in my mind even when I would see total strangers and always knew I could get them to do it. Insanity = confidence! Ha ha!

Same with locations. Rarely asked permission unless it was the only option into a warehouse for a fight scene or something. Always looking for construction sites or rooftop options. Classroom scenes? I just found open empty classrooms at the college and would go for it fast. Would just get on top of college rooftops in full costume with camera gear and all completely solo. No permission, no doubts that I wouldn’t get my shots. That’s all that mattered in my life: getting my shots for the day. Completely insane. Ha Ha!

MM: Insanity often leads to brilliant choices Roger. So, what advice would you give aspiring filmmakers?

RK: Aspiring film makers should have fun and just go for things. Never feel that you can’t figure out a scene or shot. Everything is possible within reason. When I first started I didn’t even know how to use the most basic functions on Final Cut Pro. I could barely get it on my computer screen! But passion outweighs all. It might take two weeks of watching tutorials to get some basics down or a month to get a shot at a specific location before sundown, but if you really want it, you’ll get it.

MM: Great advice. Are you working on any other film projects right now?

RK: No film projects now. Peter’s Web pretty much was my start and end for the time being. Bottom line is that I learned how to make films because I wanted to be Spider-Man. I feel I accomplished it, so that’s that. Did some music video stuff for my band “Reaching Away” a couple years back. It would be fun now to do something, but its pretty stressful. You have to deal with a lot of flakes and really make it a priority and right now all that matters is my two beautiful children Romie and Elijah. I’d be down to play Spidey again if someone else has a legit project that I really like and it fits my schedule, but other then that the tights are resting in a box till that day comes.

The videos are too long to embed, so check out the whole series on Roger King’s YouTube channel.

What do you think of Peter’s Web? Is there a fan film you’d make if you could?

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