After two home-runs with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 1 & 2, the future of Spider-Man's big screen exploits started to unravel. First there was the weak performing Spider-Man 3 which failed to deliver the on screen debut of Venom that fans were expecting, then instead of redemption the franchise was rebooted with a better suited actor in the title role but in a lacklustre movie, and now despite extremely heavy marketing by studio Sony Pictures, its sequel, while recognised for its emotive character performances has failed once again to make its mark upon the good graces of both critics and fans.
Many fans felt ASM2's marketing gave away too much and that it was too overwhelming.
Leading up to The Amazing Spider-Man 2's release the studio was adamant of the franchises future, with talk of a SCU (Spider-Man Cinemaic Universe) to be extended into a third and fourth instalment, with mention of a Venom and a Sinister Six spin off movies. Yet with the recent sequels mixed to negative response from fans and critics, and with writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci having parted ways from each other and any future Spider-Man sequels (though Kurtzman is to write and direct Venom) it seems as though the future is looking less certain for everyones once favorite wall crawler, as alluded to in a recent interview with Orci...
"I don't know what their plans are for that franchise. I don't ever want to say never, but we have to figure out what their scheduling is in terms of when they want each movie. I've read probably as much as anyone else. There's a love for the Sinister Six, the idea of Venom -- there's an idea of Spider-Man's going to be one of these characters that's part of our business. He's such a popular character. Spider-Man's not going to go away any time soon. When it all happens and how and all that has yet to be determined."
Former savior of Marvel Comics, Avi Arad sold the movie production rights for Spider-Man to Sony and Columbia Pictures before leaving Marvel and setting himself up as the property's Executive Producer, knowing full well Marvels plans to branch out into cinema themselves with Marvel Studios. Arad's move locked Marvel Studios out of producing any movies using the character, which Arad is keen to continue to do so by pushing Spider-Man into an ill-concieved movie franchise, despite waning opinion from fans and critics of his ability to do so.
Also, despite hopes from cast and director that Spider-Man may possibly appear in future Avengers or X-Men movies, Arads refusal to entertain the notion of working with Marvel Studios and/or 20th Century Fox in such a capacity, unless "Spider-Man was the primary focus", has only served to further alienate fans, critics and no doubt future investors. The hard truth of the matter is that Spider-Man needs to go away for a while, then after an appropriate holiday period the wall crawler should return with a vengeance, utilising some of the characters best storylines - Start with a classic trilogy, followed by a Miles Morales trilogy and then finish with a trilogy based upon the Clone Saga, ending it all with an alusion to the Superior Spider-Man story arc - but more on that in our next post!
