After rebooting the franchise to great success back in 2012, bringing Marc Webb back to the helm for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the next logical step, and now Sony have confirmed that he’ll be back to complete the trilogy in two years’ time, taking to the helm once more for The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
In a report on Sony’s current activities, focusing on the studio’s difficulties in setting up the lucrative new franchises that so many of its rivals boast, Variety report that Webb will be back in the director’s chair for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, hitting cinemas in 2016.
And not only that, but studio co-chairman Amy Pascal reveals their plans to release a new film within the Spider-Man Universe every year.
“We are expanding the ‘Spider-Man’ universe into ‘The Sinister Six’ and ‘Venom,’ so that we have ‘Spider-Man’ movies every year.”
At the tail-end of last year, we got clear confirmation that Sony are looking to expand the Spider-Man Universe, following the success of Webb’s original hit, The Amazing Spider-Man.
Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner were hired to write The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
Kurtzman and Orci were also hired to co-write the Venom spin-off with Ed Solomon, with Kurtzman set to take the director’s chair on that.
And Drew Goddard is penning the script for The Sinister Six, with an eye to direct.
Unless the studio moves very quickly on either Venom or The Sinister Six, it’s of course most likely that Pascal’s annual promise will begin in 2017, between The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4, the latter already set for release in 2018.
Chances are, it’s going to be Venom that comes first. One, because Venom is a character already familiar to cinemagoing audiences, following Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. And two, because taking a leaf out of Marvel’s playbook makes sense, setting up standalone characters first before bringing them together. So assuming both The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 will introduce some of the Sinister Six villains that Goddard will be dealing with, it would make a lot of sense for The Sinister Six to come in 2019, as a kind of anti-The Avengers that brought Marvel’s Phase One to a close so well.
As a huge fan of Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, I’m already so excited to see what he brings to the table for the second time around this spring, and even more stoked to hear that he’ll be back in 2016 for The Amazing Spider-Man 3. The question of course becomes whether or not he’ll want to go further, and whilst time will tell, if The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is anything like its predecessor, I would be more than happy to see Webb return for the fourth instalment in four years’ time.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on 18th April in the UK and May 2nd in the US. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will follow on June 10th, 2016, with The Amazing Spider-Man 4 set for May 4th, 2018, a dream weekend opening slot for comic book movies.
