'Sinister Six' and 'Venom' Movies to Precede 'The Amazing Spider-Man 4'

As Sony does their best to emulate Marvel's expansive collection of sequels and tie-ins, they face a challenge the studio may not have anticipated. Namely that Spider-Man, at least on the big screen, doesn't have a large group of friends and teammates to spinoff into other movies. And so what Sony has decided on is to focus on Spidey's enemies with Sinister Six and Venom. An awkward strategy, and it'll be interesting to see how they approach it.

Sony's plans had been set all the way through May 4th 2018 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4, but with the two new villain films added into the mix, there's a shifting of the schedule. Producer Matt Tolmach now says we may see Venom and Sinister Six before 'Spider-Man 4' arrives...

Tolmach: "Before we know what we do with Spider-Man 4, we're going to do 'Sinister Six,' 'Venom' and '[Amazing] Spider-Man 3.' There is going to be a lot of crossover in those movies. So we're just not at 'Spider-Man 4,' because we still have a whole other Spider-Man movie and two other movies. So we don't know yet what [Spider-Man 4] is going to be."

The 2018 date isn't going anywhere, nor is the 2016 date for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but there's a very real possibility they'll be occupied by one of these other movies. In regards to what writer/director Drew Goddard has planned for Sinister Six, Tolmach and Avi Arad say they'll be telling a story of redemption, which makes sense for a movie about a bunch of criminals. At the same time, is that what their fans really want to see?

Arad: "[E]verybody's looking for redemption. They're unforgiven... As long as there's that one thing in common: they'll hate Spider-Man. They'll hate him because he's so different from them. But then, you know when you sit by yourself somewhere and you think about it, they all had a different life at one time and that's what's so beautiful about the Spider-Man universe."

Tolmach: "There's no such thing as just a villain. There are villains by virtue of choices that people make but they always begin as humans, as characters. As flawed people; as tragic people. You know great movies have been made about a bunch of bad guys who get together to do something.”[DenofGeek/IGN]

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'The Amazing Spider-Man 4' will Need a New Director

It's no secret that Marc Webb was reluctant to tackle The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, coming off only one feature film in the indie romance (500) Days of Summer. But he signed on for the long haul, recently confirming he'll stick around through the third film before Sony begins its expansion with Sinister Six and Venom. But there's also a fourth Spider-Man film that has been confirmed, and Webb addressed whether or not he'll be taking the camera for that one, too.

In a conversation with The Daily Beast, Webb says he hopes to be a part of future sequels, just not as a director...

Webb: "I’d like to be involved as a consultant, and I’ve already talked to these guys about it, but in terms of directing it, that will close out my tenure. I’ve had so much fun doing it, but after the third movie, it’ll be the time to find something else."

And part of that "something else" should include Cold Comfort, the true-life spy film he agreed to direct a few months ago.  The Amazing Spider-Man 3 won't open until June 10th 2016 so we've got a couple years of Webb's take on Spidey to go.

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Andrew Garfield Says He Has Nothing to Do with 'The Amazing Spider-Man 4'

It's become common practice for studios to build franchises way in advance, but Sony took it to another level when they set release dates through The Amazing Spider-Man 4 in 2018. It was a little odd because a trilogy had been the plan, and seemed to have a specific arc of stories in place, making the fourth movie appear to be something completely different. And now there's evidence to think that's exactly the case.

Spider-Man himself Andrew Garfield spoke to Yahoo! about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and revealed he's only under contract through the third movie....

Garfield: “I mean I’m under contract for another one after this… as far as a fourth one? That’s not anything to do with me."

He then added...

Garfield: “But yeah, I think what we’re doing here is we’ve established the world. And now we get to really play inside that world. Use our imagination, and kind of expand. That’s what this film is.”

Could that expansion include somebody else under the Spidey mask? The idea of this really being a trilogy was then backed up by director Marc Webb...

Webb: “We did think about these movies from the very beginning as a series of movies. Really a trilogy to be totally frank.”

This could all just be a contractual ploy by Garfield but it seems a little early for that. It's probably more likely that Webb won't be around past a third film so he can move on to something that doesn't involve costumes and super powers. He's still pretty young in his career and only had one major directing gig before jumping into Spider-Man. If plans really are for Garfield to leave then bringing in another actor to play the part is dangerous. The same could be said of having a totally new character take on the Spider-Man mantle. But assuming it's the latter situation does that mean we could see the new character introduced in the next film?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens in IMAX 3D May 2nd 2014 and maybe we'll find out some answers then. 

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Marc Webb Teases 'The Amazing Spider-Man 4' May Be an Ensemble

When Sony extended The Amazing Spider-Man franchise through 2018 and a fourth film, even before the sequel is properly finished, it changed what we thought we knew about Marc Webb's plans. All clues point to the Sinister Six factoring in somehow, and with a plethora of villains filling up the roster in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, there will be no shortage of characters for Webb to utilize. But as Webb continues to chat up the franchise, he also seems to be figuring out how a fourth movie can keep things fresh. As we saw with Sam Raimi's trilogy, the well tends to run dry by movie three, and it sounds like Webb's plan is to make 'Spider-Man 4' about more than just Peter Parker.

While talking to Crave Online, Webb seemed to tease that Spider-Man may not be the sole focus when the fourth movie comes around....

Webb: "Well, I think this was conceived of as a trilogy so there was a defined architecture to the story we were telling and we had sort of a rough outline of what was going to happen. I think [for] the fourth movie, what we’ve discovered is there are so many ancillary characters, that have enormous, cinematic potential that there may be other ways to exploit those characters, in a way that is exciting and fun and worthwhile. It might not just be a Spider-Man movie."

He went on to add...

Webb: "You know, what was fun about the comics is that there’s an entire sort of encyclopedia of characters and stories and histories and nuances and idiosyncrasies and off-shoots. I think that that is something that seems to be really successful and has a lot of potential so it’s sort of, as yet, undefined, but intentionally so."

Is Webb saying that 'Spider-Man 4' will be an ensemble? That's probably stretching things a little bit, but what it sounds like is Spidey may be forced to team up with one of his rivals to stop an even greater threat. While there are no shortage of characters Webb could thrust into the spotlight, the one that keeps coming to mind for me is Venom. We already know that Sony wants to make a Venom solo film, even targeting Josh Trank (Chronicle) as the director, and the character has been one of Spidey's most fearsome foes and a hero who has fought by his side.

While Electro (Jamie Foxx) is the sequel's primary villain, Webb has also introduced Paul Giamatti as Rhino, Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn, Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn, and Felicity Jones as another Spidey nemesis. Most of these characters will take on greater importance in future films, so it wouldn't be a total surprise if Venom were introduced in some small way, set aside to have a great impact later.

Whatever the case, we'll find out more when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens on May 2nd 2014.

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Sony Sets Release Dates for Third and Fourth 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Movies

Sam Raimi is probably somewhere chuckling right now. As you know, he was intended to take his Spider-Man franchise into a fourth film, but that idea was canned and it instead became Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man reboot. Always planned as a trilogy, Webb is currently at work on the sequel which hits theaters in a year. But in what can only be a sign of confidence, Sony has set release dates not only for a third film, but for a fourth. We'll see if it ever reaches that far.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 has been dated for June 10th 2016, with the next film to come May 4th 2018. Yeah, that's how far ahead studios are looking already, continuing the rather disturbing trend of dating movies that have no scripts, casts, or directors even in the discussion phase. There's always the chance Sony has a plan in place for the third film, as rumors suggest it will involve Spidey (Andrew Garfield) battling the Sinister Six. The villainous team does look to be forming up in the sequel, with Jamie Foxx as Electro, Paul Giamatti as Rhino, Colm Feore rumored as The Vulture, and the Green Goblin portrayed by either Chris Cooper or Dane DeHaan.

We'll see if Marc Webb sticks it out for the long haul, although I wouldn't count on seeing Emma Stone there at the end. Call it a hunch. So what do you think? Do you want two more Spider-Man movies? Or is a trilogy more than enough? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 webs up theaters on May 2nd 2014.

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