And I prefer Denis Leary ...

With the final episode of Rescue Me airing tonight, Denis Leary has been all over the entertainment news the last few days. If you haven't seen Rescue Me yet, it's streaming live on Netflix, and you should check it out. Denis Leary plays a New York firefighter, and story lines center around his own, his family's, and his firehouse brothers' reactions to 9/11. A weird blend of comedy, drama, action, and pure soap-opera ridiculousness (the season where Leary's character dated his dead cousin's wife, while his ex-wife got pregnant by Leary's brother comes to mind), there's really nothing else like it on TV. And the occasional repetitiveness was always broken up by a perfectly-timed and executed Leary Rant in the classic style. Plus, his brothers in the fire house were just unbelievable. Lou, the Lieutenant, Leary's best friend, had impeccable comic timing and some of the best lines in the series. And the dumb-and-dumber routine of firefighters Mike and Sean kept the humor flowing as well, even with a show that focuses on some really dark themes.

But, since Leary has a large role in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man (due out July 3, 2012), he couldn't have a press tour for Rescue Me without answering some Spider-Man questions as well. Leary plays George Stacy, police captain and father to Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy. There has been some debate as to whether Leary's Captain will be more like the classic comics version, who fully supported Spidey, particularly Spidey's and Gwen's relationship; or if he will be more like the Ultimate version, where he's not quite as wholehearted a supporter. Personally, I'm hoping for the Ultimate version. Nobody does a disapproving dad quite as well as Denis Leary, and with sparky Stone playing his daughter, the interaction would be hilarious.

In an interview with Starpulse, Leary spoke about ending Rescue Me and the upcoming anniversary of 9/11, but also dropped some interesting information about the upcoming Spider-Man movie. First of all, he said that it's a much darker version of Sam Raimi's trilogy. "It’s a darker story, but there are some very funny things in it. Some of them were scripted, and some of them came out of the work." He also said that while he didn't, himself, refer to the original Stan Lee comics while preparing for the role, ("I'm more of a Batman guy") he did have input from his friend Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) who is a self-described "Spider-Man freak." Garlin, who has been friends with Leary for over 30 years, apparently showed Leary a picture of Captain Stacy from the old Marvel comics and said, "The first time I met you, I thought you were Captain Stacy."

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