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It's time to end once and for all the rampant speculation. Sony doesn't want any info to leak but I'm told that both star Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi will be returning to make Zodiac screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt's script of Spider-Man 4. Sources tell me that Sony has recently locked in both veterans of Spider-Man 1 through 3. And I do mean recently because just a few weeks ago sources told me 
that Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal was openly discussing Tobey's potential replacements with various Hollywood agents because Tobey was hanging tough about a deal. "She was looking around to cover herself because Sony wanted him badly and Tobey wasn't sure he wanted to do it," an insider explained to me. (Later today, a Sony Pictures spokesman claimed to me on the record, "There was never anyone considered for the role but Tobey.")
There's no deal yet for Kirsten Dunst but Mary Jane Watson will be in the movie again. I'm told Sony "would never recast her" despite her rehab problems. But expect another gal part, too.
Gone is the black costume from Spidey 3, even though "dark" is all the rage in superhero movies right now given the enormous success of The Dark Knight. But I'm told the filmmakers won't be borrowing from the latest Batman installment because "Spider-Man is its own thing," one insider tells me. "Sam Raimi made the first serious superhero movie, and others followed. The difference between Spider-Man and Batman is that Batman is duelling with a dark side of himself, and that's not what Peter Parker's struggle is. Peter Parker has no dark side himself. In Spider-Man 3 it was the black costume. Peter Parker's struggle is about sacrifice."
Sony is taking its time officially hiring the movie's villain since principal photography doesn't start on Spider-Man 4 until next fall because of the recently postponed May 2011 release. 
I am told, however, that "once you find out who the villain is, you'll know who's playing it." That should lead to speculation that Dylan Baker's character of Dr. Curt Connors will ultimately turn into The Lizard as he did in the comic books. There's one other character that's been set up but is a real longshot -- Daniel Gillies, who plays John Jameson, the astronaut fiance of Mary Jane in Spider-Man 2. In the comics he becomes the villain Man-Wolf. Raimi has said in the past that he wants the best actors to play the villains in the movie, not necessarily the most famous.
I'm also told that, right now, the studio is trying to figure out if it can feasibly shoot Spider-Man 4 and 5 at the same time because doing that is so cost effective and "it wasn't so easy to get everybody back together".
Meanwhile, Sony is moving forward on its Spider-Man Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge of U2 to be directed by Julie Taymor, the Tony Award-winning director of The Lion King. I'm still in a state of shock that Amy Pascal and Julie Taymor are working together again after the knock-down, drag-out fights they had over Sony/Revolution's Across The Universe. This is one of those showbiz moments when the Hollywood maxim, "I'll never work with you again until I need you", comes true.
And Sony has hired a pair of screenwriters to get going on the Spider-Man 3 spinoff movie Venom. Given that comic book artist/writer and action figure maker, Todd McFarlane, who is one of the creators of the Marvel villain, doesn't think a Venom movie could do well with a villain as the central character, my sources think Sony should let Topher Grace, even though he was blown up at the end of Spider-Man 3 (yet a portion of the Venom costume survived), stay in the role because the likeable actor could be a a sympathetic evildoer.
Meanwhile, you can snag a walk-on role on the movie via an eBay auction that ends at 7 PM PDT today. That's an hour before the broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC collaborate to air a historic, live and commercial-free television event, Stand Up To Cancer. Yes, Sony is allowing the charity to sell off the "Spider-Man 4 VIP Experience" which includes: a visit to the set of Spider-Man 4 (one shooting day, location of visit will be determined by Sony Pictures based on scheduling of visit), a meet-and-greet with the cast (1 hour), a walk-on/extra role in the film for the auction winner only (role and length of screen time to be determined by Sony Pictures), a trip to the New York premiere (location of U.S. premiere may be changed at Sony Pictures’ discretion), designer outfits to wear to premiere for winner and guest from top designers (designers to be chosen by Sony Pictures; winner and guest may keep the outfits; winner and guest will walk the premiere’s red carpet).
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More proof that studio suits are idiots.
“Peter Parker has no dark side himself.”
Umm, what was the third movie all about, then?
Hopefully, Sony won’t ruin 4 and 5 like they did with 3. They shoe-horned in Venom, which made the film try to do too much. The stuff with Sandman was great, and that was the movie Raimi wanted to tell, you could see it. The studio stuffed too much in it. Plus, the whole movie needed editing — a result of trying to get it out the door to make its release deadline. Less would have been more. Some of the Peter Parker scenes were embarrassing.
Superhero movies need to be more focused. Look at Raimi’s own Darkman. Darkman spends the entire movie going after the people who hurt him. The movie ends when he succeeds. He didn’t have to fight other villains or spend time introducing new characters. Spidey needs to fight one villain, with some spectacular fight scenes, take care of his personal business, conquer the villain and get the girl, and end of movie. They’ve beat the “with great power comes great responsibility” garbage into the ground. Let’s get on with it!
Also the track record of shooting two movies together has been spotty. Back to the Future 2 & 3, and the Matrix 2 & 3 were really director’s cuts of sequels broken up into two parts. They should have been a single movie. Let’s hope Spidey 4 & 5 don’t suffer the same fate.
Just when I was starting to think Tobey Maguire was finally rid of his Spider Man responsibilities so he could go back to real acting. How unfortunate that such a talented actor who kicked ass in the likes of Wonder Boys has been reduced to playing a superhero geek.
In regard to Kirsten “snaggletooth” Dunst, I doubt too many people would miss if her she wasn’t in the next two movies. She was a pain in the ass in the last one especially.
There’s no deal yet for Kirsten Dunst but Mary Jane Watson will be featured. I’m told Sony “would never recast her” despite her rehab problems.
But what about her acting problems?
“Umm, what was the third movie all about, then?”
It was about Parker getting turned dark by an outside force that took him over. That’s not the same thing as fighting your inner demons or negative impulses.
And for the record, no, I’m not defending that turd of a movie.
After the cinematic abomination that was Spiderman 3, I have little to no faith that this franchise can be fixed with the same director/actor team. If they can find a way to make it more of an entertaining action romp with MINOR doses of melodrama, and totally free of crying & dancing emo Peter Parker, that’s a good place to start. Short, snappy and to the point if you MUST continue to milk this tentpole (how’s that for a mixed metaphor!).
I’m not excited by a new Spider-Man film. Not at all.
But that Spider-Man musical excites me! And here’s a video with director Julie Taymor talking very enthusiastically about. Shot it during an interview in Sweden.
Actually the Sandman character was handled far worse than Venom. They awkwardly retconned the killing of Uncle Ben to shoehorn Sandman into the story, in a forced effort to make a “personal” connection between Sandman and Peter Parker. Then they made Spidey “forgive” him at the end of the movie, in a very sappy copout that is not true to the crimefighting nature of the character or his origin. Awful, awful, liberal-tinged rewriting of a comic book legend there. Not to mention they were very unimaginative with the Sandman action scenes and effects. He could have been as creepy and threatening as the T-1000. I could even show you a Spider-Man cartoon from the 1980s that got better action scenes in that vein out of Sandman. Venom, on the other hand, was handled fairly faithfully to the comics. His connection with Peter wasn’t forced and he was allowed to be a genuinely evil villain. Thank God Marvel “forced” Venom into the movie or it might have been more of a washout.
One huge bummer is that James Franco’s Harry Osborn won’t be able to be in the sequels. He really pulled together a fantastic performance in the third movie, one of the few actors in that trainwreck that did.
The Lizard/Curt Connors would be fantastic.
Maybe Sandman can make a cameo, as he is still out there.
Also, it could be possible that another villain could be none other then Bruce Campbell as Mysterio.
Here is some info on that character:
“Quentin Beck was born in Riverside, California. Before becoming Mysterio, Beck was a special effects wizard and stunt man who worked for a major Hollywood studio and had dreams to make a name for himself in the film industry. However, he lacked the looks and talent to be a star and the patience to be a director, and saw his career in special effects to be a dead-end job. When a friend jokingly suggested that the quickest way to become famous is to take out a costumed hero, Beck realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective supervillain. Choosing Spider-Man, a relatively weak and inexperienced target, Beck prepared his resources for a few months before attempting to eliminate the wall-crawler. Mysterio, his chosen identity, became one of Spider-Man’s most elusive and persistent foes.”
And hopefully, Raimi will feel no need to add any dance /musical numbers…I mean, there is a real musical on the way…heh
Worst casting ever… and now it continues. Everyone bought Raimi’s snow job that Tobey was a slam dunk as Peter Parker, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Peter Parker wasn’t a 5-foot-tall ugly nerd. His character was insecure and a walking target for bullies, but he was a good-looking kid who hadn’t grown into himself yet. And he ALWAYS had a great sense of humor and a knack for one-liners, something Tobey can’t pull off to save his life. Perfect casting would have been Seth from the OC (Adam Brody) — goofy, handsome, hilarious. Not the troll Sony sold to America as the “perfect” Spidey. But there was no arguing with Spider-Man’s box office and now that ship has sailed for the worse, with Raimi getting far more credit than he deserves.
I don’t understand all the hate for Spiderman 3 among the comic fans. While not quite as good as part one and two, Part 3 is still a solid entertainment despite director Raimi juggling to many characters. Im glad Mcquire and him are back, because there two very talented guys who are great for this franchise!
As long as Spidey swings around and shoots webs it doesn’t matter who’s behind the camera or who’s pretending to be inside the CGI suit.
GREAT NEWS!!! We get two more shitty Spider-Man movies!!!
For starters, SM3 was awful. The movie completely lost me when Mary Jane was forced to break up with Peter in the park by Harry because he threatened her.
Seriously? Any real girl, knowing her boyfriend is Spiderman (a man who saved her ass from far worse things in two previous films) would have told Peter that Harry was threatening her from the bushes nearby. Also why didn’t Peter’s “Spidey Sense” kick in?
Anyhow the movie just kept upping the shenanigan level as it went on. Culminating with a half ass fight and a rooftop crying fest. How stupid.
The only way to bring this back is to reboot it as a fun simple action movie. Hire an actor who won’t portray Peter the way Reeves portrayed Clark Kent. Hire a beautiful woman to be Mary Jane. And while I love your site Nikki, Eddie Brock aka Venom was a big bodybuilder of a jock in the comic. Not the dude from That 70’s Show with highlights. So no to him returning.
And a Venom movie is a dumb idea. The name recognition of the Venom character will do nothing to distinguish him from second rate comic book movie fare like Spawn. Sony played themselves with the hopes of making an easy buck here and they are in for a surprise when the backlash earned from part 3 makes people tune 4 and 5 out.
I know the first Spider-Man was excellent. But the first serious hero/comic-book movie was Superman. Richard Donner took the material seriously and all comic book movies follow its template.
Aren’t there any other comic books we can make into movies?
Tobey McGuire puts me to sleep – he’s the most boring superhero ever!
These movies are cheesy and the CGI in them has never impressed me.
Just let Spidey go with *some* dignity (ok, it might be too late for that, but let’s pretend).
Netflixed “Spider-Man 3″ out of curiosity (after making a marathon of the previous two), tried to get through the first 20 minutes, fast-forwarded through the rest, stopping for a few seconds in between to see what transpired, but that was enough.
Please REBOOT this tired franchise!
Tired of the look and sound of the Spiderman films in general – SPIDERMAN 3 pretty much killed the franchise for me: the cliched repetitive music, the Emo-Saturday Night Fever scenes showing how cool (or uncool)Parker is, one-dimensional villains who morph into Godzilla at the climax, Sony’s insistence on taking Parker’s mask off for many scenes, Raimi’s interruption of action scenes ny inserting lame comedy and characters such as TV reporters, the same Spiderman gliding/flying angles, the infuriatingly boring love triangle with a most irritating actress Kirstin Dunst – I could go on but a reboot is in order.
They better get someone else too to direct, Raimi has kinda lost his edge on these films, they all look like carbon copies of each other.
And I’m tired of numbers behind the titles; why can’t they make sequels called THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDERMAN and so forth. Sony is trying to milk the franchise but by sticking to the same formula, cast and director it is killing it.
I’m pleased to hear that Maguire and Raimi are returning for “Spider-Man 4″ (and possibly SM-5). Personally I thought SM-3 was enjoyable but absolutely reeked from studio interference (too many villains was the problem). Perhaps Sony will take a hint from the fans and actually let Raimi tell his own movie without interference? It worked brilliantly for the first two.
And I find this mighty concidental, especially the following days after TDK broke $500 million domestically. It probably accelerated Sony’s desire to get SM-4 on the fast-track and get the movie out to theaters before a third Batman film in summer 2011.
Spidey 1&2 two were EXCELLENT. I don’t understand why everyone hated #3 with such venom (har!), though it was inarguably the worst one. Blame the fandom for demanding that the studio squeeze venom into it, that was what brought the whole movie down, not doing the character any justice.
Am I the only one that thinks Tobey and Kirsten were well cast in this franchise?
I know most of anyone who visits this board actually has read the book over the past three years, but you wouldn’t believe how bad it’s been.
The guy that Babylon 5 had been writing for years and made Spider-man an essentially magic-based character. That’s not the bad part. He made Spider-man die by some guy in a trench coat, shed his own skin and come back to life in a cocoon. Don’t believe me? Believe this, it was the begginning of the end for this book. This is how the book spiral into oblivion. After that he got a new job working for Tony Stark and a new costume to go with his new powers which were never mentioned again. Then the Super-Hero Registration thing happened and Peter Parker revealed his identity to the world. This is all withing about six months of each other and at this point you think this would be a big event that everyone suddenly knew who Spider-man was would be a big story, right? Wrong.
This is when I knew the powers that be at Marvel didn’t really ‘get it’. They did the last biggest thing with their most famous character and didn’t really care about making ‘the’ big story. It was a back story in their mega-crossover Civil War-which wasn’t very good.
It doesn’t matter, I’m not going to continue other than Peter made a deal with Mephisto (Marvel’s Satan) to end the marriage and save his Aunt May.
The worst part is… well, that it’s the worst comic of all time. The main hero does stupid and extremely questionable things and it doesn’t matter, they still right him like he’s the same guy and no one knows who he is… not even the Venom symbiote or Norman Osborn (who has been back for a while)….
Yeah, it’s that bad. I just don’t care about Spider-man 4 while this horrible ’style’ of writing goes on in the comic book. It doesn’t matter what he does or what’s happening, all that matter is where it’s going.
Nowhere.
Angry Fan #34983
When venom was first introduced, he wasnt a big body builder. He was a photographer, just like in the movie. While not quite as skinny as Topher, he didn’t get big until he went to jail and got separated from his suit.
In 3, which was definitely the worst of the 3, they should have focused less on the woes of Mary Jane and her broadway career, not had Sandman in it at all since they completely butchered his character completely, and they should have set it up for Carnage. It would have been a whole lot better of a movie and a much better setup for a sequel if they made arch enemies have to team up to take down a mutual enemy. Now that the Green Goblins are out of the picture, they needed someone to come in and save spidey before he gets killed.
P.S. Maguire is not a horrible Parker. Adam Brody would have been way worse. Watch him in his Smallville episode. The problem with whoever is playing Peter is that the writing for his character is stuck in his first becoming spider-man time frame. He quit being so insecure a while back. They don’t let the personal move on, its like a WB drama.
Mary Jane too is written so horribly. They should just leave her out of these next movies and bring in Black Cat. She was a much better love interest of Peters and would be better suited for the movies since they are probably never gonna bring Venom or Carnage to the movies again.
Just my 2 cents
I loved Spiderman and Spiderman 2, but Spiderman 3 wasn’t that good. However, I think it is foolish to compare the Spiderman movies with the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman films. The Spiderman movies are bright & colorful movies, while the Batman movies are dark and compelling character driven films.
Frankly, they are a reflection of the actual comic books. Spiderman is MARVEL and Batman is DC. Hey, it’s no crime to like them both!
I’m actually a bit sad to hear this news. I think Raimi and Tobey should have both moved on and passed.
The last one was awful and borderline unwatchable. It’s on cable all the time and I have never rewatched it after seeing it once in the theater. Just a bad movie. No desire to see it ever again.
Tobey is so much better than this part (or at least how it was written in 3).
I would love to see him in more comedic roles with heart. I think he has that earnest quality as an actor that is rare in this day and age.
Spiderman, after 3, feels like it’s sorely in need of a reboot. The cast of regulars just aren’t that inspiring.
I know there are cool villains to use in the next 2 films, but we already know where the movie is going with the Raimi formula and the ride has lost its fun.
3 really sucked the life out of the goodwill 2 brought in.
My advice to them would be to definitely take a page from the Dark Knight and give us something full of suspense and find a way to make the audience believe that Spiderman can’t save the day this time.
A truly formiddable villian is needed.
For some reason, all of the previous villains weren’t that scary and Raimi really sought to make the villain’s sympathetic. Bad move. It’s good vs. evil. That’s how this works.
Give me a psychopath who doesn’t care about taking human life and I’ll root for Spidey to win.
Don’t give me a guy who’s pissed because of his Dad (Goblin Jr.) or wife (Doc Oct) or is trying to get money for his kid (Sandman) or wants to be Peter Parker (Venom)….I think too much thought has gone into making the villains human.
Sony should not be asking Raimi for more of the same.
They should be challenging him to make these next 2 films truly epic.
And DO NOT make a Venom standalone movie. The studio is completely overestimating the fanbase’s love for that character.
The fans like Venom because of his design and videogame presence, not his storyline.
A Venom movie would be a huge flop since there is hardly any worthwhile mythology to pull a decent story from.
I don’t know how much of Spider-Man 3 can be blamed on Raimi, since in his script the villains were Goblin II, the Sandman and the Vulture (the Vulture was the main villain, Sandman was being manipulated by him. Obviously Green Goblin II and Spider-Man team up to take them down). Raimi never wanted Venom in the film. It was forced on him (only a few months before filming too) by Avi Arad (insane producer… in the commentary of Spider-Man 1, he says he wanted to make not 3, but 15 Spider-Man films). Mr Arad announced it publicy at a comic convention that venom would be in the film… without clearing it with anyone first (this is also part of the reason Mr Arad no longer works at Marvel). Venom was written into the script in about 2 months and it shows. Not only that, but Sandman’s story suffered, as his motivation (Vulture manipulating him) was gone. Still, Spider-Man 3 was a poor script, with flimsy motives for the villains. So, I’m willing to give Raimi another chance to make a good Spider-Man film now that Avi Arad is gone (thank God). But if 4 sucks, I’m writing off the series from film 2 onwards.
Keep that wimp, Topher Grace far away from the role of Venom. Eddie Brock is a body-builder, not a scrawny little nerd. Get someone like Vin Diesel. Grace messed up the role horribly with his whiny voice and the writers ruined the character by making him enlist the help of another villain to get revenge on Spider-Man. The real Venom would take out any villains getting between him and his revenge.
Ok i see some people did not like spidey-3. Well i just want to say Sandman was not that bad. Don’t get me wrong he could have been better. What the movie makers failed to see is that the fight is what the people want.
Take the first movie for example. The green goblin whiped spideys ass with no help. Everyone loved it.
Part 2 the doc himself is a force all on his own.
Now take the last movie. Three guys Sandman ok i can see why he might need some help. But harry should have had his own movie. A fight between two friends….two comic super powers in marvel history. Harry osborn the new goblin should have had part three to himself.The black Spider-man vs the new goblin. Oh it would have been like no other fight ever seen before. The weapons the fury the destruction. And what did they do they killed him.
Then you have VENOM!. Do they even read comics. This villain has petter parker so scared in one comic i have he keeps a sonic disrupter rifle in his room just in case. Trust me he is not one to ask for help often. I can under stand why they want to make a movie about him. But im telling you his fights have to be ruthless and some one special better be in it. thank you for your time. And if sony needs some ideas im happy to help my email is serpentstylerd@yahoo.com
The Spiderman franchise may be one of the most entertaining (so far) but TWO more movies? How to kill it forever.
I always laugh at Tobey Maguire. When we were kids, a “toby” was the same part of anatomy as a “willie” or a “dick”. How appropriate.
My guess/hope for a villain is Michael Clarke Duncan as The Kingpin. I know Dare devil wasn’t as good as it could have been, but putting Spider-Man up against a more cerebral villain would be fun this time.
@ Reality Check:
I wasn’t trying to compare Batman and Spider-Man, but saying that Sony really wanted to get SM-4 on track after TDK outdid both SM-1 (domestically) and SM-3 (worldwide take), and so they secured Raimi and Maguire. I really think Sony will try and get production on SM-4 started before anything is announced regarding a third Batman film.
Nikki! How come Dan DiDio is still in place at DC Comics??????
Great!!! Just what we need, another stupid, silly salsa dancing spidey movies
The studio exec saying that Spiderman was the 1st serious superhero movie needs a bloody new brain. What was so serious about Spiderman 1 anyway? Didn’t he know the wrestling scene was comical?
Rest assured DK2 records will remain intact. Spidey’s B.O receipts is on the downward turn anyways.
If he makes it more of a suspense tale then it could quite possibly rectify the mistakes harbored by the last one.
Enough with Peter Parker’s emotional journey and MJ getting kidnapped for the hundreth time! Give us the Lizard or Carnage or Vulture to raise the threat level and create some genuine suspense. Don’t make another comic book movie. Make a thriller where the stakes are raised. As for Raimi and Maguire returning…I don’t think it’s a good idea personally. Their style is just bland and boring. This franchise screams REBOOT! REBOOT! But apparently they dug the script so we’ll have to wait and see. It all comes down to the trailer. If it works, people will come. If not…then I feel really sorry for some Sony execs.
Personally I think both Spidey 1&2 were great, and i agree that Spidey 3 was a total disaster as they tried to do too much…where are all the simple great storylines nowadays??… anyway i really think they need a new Peter Parker, Toby just doesn’t cut it and Spidey doesn’t seem to have any of the hilarious phrases Spidey should have, I think someone like Ryan Reynolds from Blade should be spidey, he has both the figure and the ability to deliver the one-liners at the right time. As for the movie itself, i think they should take a break from the relationship of Mary-Jane and Peter, I mean how many times can she get into bother and always get saved by spidey…its so annoying and predictable…she should have fell and died in Spidey 3 (A bit like Rachel in The Dark Knight) that would have opened up many option for Spidey 4&5… Also for the next one it should be alot darker, Spideys getting annoying being that much of a goody-two-shoes geek from 2 and 3, so it should be a mix of The Dark Knight and Iron Man (For the humour- the rest of the movie was rubbish!)
As for the villian..there should only be one, but one of the original and best loved from the cartoon, for example:
Scorpion – He was created to kill spiderman and one of spidermans best villians
Rhino – A absolute powerhouse who would look amazing stomping around modern-day New York
Lizard – It would be a great clash as Spidey has a emotional link to Dr. Connors to start of with
and finally, if they do decide to darken the movie, Morlun, a unstoppable force bent on killing Spidey, this could enable the writers to push spidey far enough to have to kill him in order to survive – a perfect opportunity to darken spidey and make him more human!
*It would also give an opportunity for other heroes (from the Avengers) to help him, then offer him a position in their team!!
Anyway thats just my opinion!
God no more Kirsten Dunst pl. Movie Gwen > than Movie MJ by like a thousand times. If MJ is going to be in future movies she needs to be recast.
I don’t believe Sony interfered as much as people here in these comments think they did in SM-3. Look at the success Raimi had with SM1 and SM2; with that kind of box office clout, studios are happy to let you do what you want. Plus, it’s not like Raimi is listening to anyone having put some billion bucks into their pocket and gotten them hefty Christmas bonuses.
God, what is it with Nic Cage? I still remember his small role in Rumblefish creating a solid impression in my mind. Leaving Las Vegas was not one of my favorites, but I acknowledge his talent for goddamm sure in the film. But Adaptation was mind blowing! So I totally understand his fan-boy comic book jag ,so why not something incredibly controversial from that realm like Ditko’s Mr. A? (Sorry Vince V., but let’s be real…)
The only successful film Tobey has starred in the last six year other than the Spiderman movies was Seabisquit (I think he only made one other film). His career has stalled and he begrudgingly realizes his only options. He & Raimi know SM3 was a dud. And since no one else wants to greenlight a film with him attached (including his host studio, who has not greenlit any film he brought in as a producer and/or actor in the last five years & only gave him a deal because they want him as Spiderman) he doesn’t want the last film he has been able to get made be his worst work.
Good point WawaLisa — think you hit the head on the nail on that one.
For any future comic book to succeed now after TDK’S wake there is a formula to take hold — one: the casting has to be of high quality, no matter what property you are adapting, quality high grade actors, not movie stars per se, but trained skilled actors have to be involved. two: the script doesn’t have to be great, but it has to be a solid story with a beginning, middle and an end. three: a director who’ll take the material seriously and be true to the source material. four: studio executives cannot be involved in active development of material. Why? Because most are stupid about anything and everything. Let them stare at data sheets all day, creative they’re not. Follow those rules and they’ll have a fighting chance.
@ Sid:
Personally, I blame Avi Arad for making story “input” on what villains to include in SM-3. Not to mention Raimi really didn’t like Venom and only put him in the film because Arad wanted him to.
Arad should just leave the Spidey franchise to Laura Ziskin and concentrate on his Marvel Studios lineup with Stan and Kevin Feige. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he and Ziskin will produce the next two films. Not a good idea for Arad to be around.
Sandman was horrible in Spider-Man 3; at the end, I couldn’t get chants of “Imhotep! Imhotep!” out of my head with the bad Mummy-redux sand effects. In fact, the whole film was a train wreck. I understood Raimi planned the film to be his last and was trying to shoehorn as much as possible into it as he could, but the overflowing script was too much: A dance number! Gwen Stacy! The black suit! Venom! Another villain! Harry’s closure! They did everything but blow up the Death Star.
The most effective of the films was Spider-Man 2, with its tightly focused script and single villain. It’s disheartening that studios still haven’t learned from the Burton and Schumacher Batman films, where more villains, more sidekicks, and more gimmicks increasingly resulted in diminished product.
It’s amazing how many people talk crap on the Spiderman movies. You people have no idea what a real movie is. I bet the same jokers loved Transformers. Get a life. So many comments are incredibly uneducated and ignorant. SM3 wasn’t horrible, but was far below expectations. So what? It was still fun.
And Matt C, you are dead on. If Arad would have let Raimi make 3 the way he wanted, it would have been a lot better. With 4 and 5, they have a chance to move on and allow the character to grow more.
“Rebooting” the franchise is a horrible idea. Look at what it did for Hulk, nothing! Why reboot something? Do I really want to see the same origin story over and over? Eff no.
Why reboot a franchise that was only a few years old? Batman waited more than a decade and Superman longer than that!
They should wait alittle longer, say 7-10yrs before rebooting it with new cast altogether. And no more sad villian and silly crybaby scene please. Spidey is never going to win an Oscar. Period!
Sony needs to do this the “Marvel Way.” Make a deal and include the characters that are classic NYC Marvel heroes: Ghost Rider, Punisher, Daredevil, to appear alongside Spiderman in the two movies, with Spiderman appearing theirs.
Have Spiderman, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider each try to stop the Punisher (from well, killing mobsters/super-powered bad guys) and get in each other’s way. That’s classic Marvel — the heroes know each other, have serious issues with each other over methods and personality, but are constrained by their own code.
Pushing in too many villains is old hat — fans love cross-overs particularly how the heroes interact. You would need Nic Cage (for Ghostrider) but I think you could recast Punisher and Daredevil. Yes with Michael Clarke Duncan as an ancillary character. After all, the Punisher is not a villain, but not the kind of hero the others are either.
This stuff worked wonders in the Comics. Garth Ennis wrote some classics with Wolverine, Daredevil, Spider-Man, and the Punisher all tangling. Heck if not Ghost Rider, someone marginal like Nomad or Moon Knight could be put to use in that slot.
I can’t believe most of what I’m reading here. How completely unforgiving and forgetful most you asses are. Spider-Man and Spider-man 2 were state of the art blockbuster successes that delivered big time. Spider-man 3 had problems. MOST of the problems stemmed from big to much to long to soon. Listen, I’m behind the man (Raimi) and crew who made those movies. They do have their pulse on what makes Spidey tick. I’m betting my bottom dollar that both films will be worth watching and fun…Oh and BTW…after the MONSTER business and buzz for “THE DARK KNIGHT”…I am betting right now, EVEN before the third movie in that franchise is made, that people will be saying, “Nolan should have stopped when he was ahead. Batman 3 sucks!” ..you know why? It’s very, very, VERY hard to follow up a GRAND SLAM (Spidey 2 and The Dark Knight) without some kind of let down. Trust me….it’ll happen. In the meantime. GO SPIDEY!
king pen is the villain, michael clark duncan.
I didn’t rly like any of the Spider Man films tbh. It’s just not dark enough. The guy who’s supposed to be annoying, just becomes funny. The guy who is supposed to be evil, just becomes pissed off. Ya know ? It doesn’t strike me as an actual Spider Man setting.
I did fall asleep during SM3. And that is surprising. The most interesting thing about SM3 was the trailer. I liked that sequence where arrogant Maguire struts about town and the sequence didn’t even belong in the movie. It was like some movie within a movie thing. Sandman was truly trite in every way.
My point was that the Spiderman movies are different from Nolan’s Batman films because Nolan’s real world take on Batman is unique to the movie genre for comic books. Burton and Schumacher made cartoon-versions of Batman, similar to Rami’s vision of Spiderman.
Now Spiderman 3 went off the tracks a bit, but it wasn’t the disaster that Batman & Robin was.
Perhaps Rami can recapture the magic of the first two movies with Spiderman 4 & 5! That would be great.
Look how great Iron Man was. It wasn’t expected to be as big of a hit as it became.
I think Nolan will make a third Batman movie, but The Dark Knight is going to be a hard act to follow. The pressure will be incredible. Which villians will he use and what actors will be selected? Lots of pressure.
Rami will have similar pressure as well.
I love the spiderman franchise. I dont care what people say about 3. yes there were a couple of things that might have not been correct. But what movie is? there is always a couple of slow parts, embarrasing moments or bad acting. that doesnt make the movie bad. i didnt think it was a bad movie. of course thats my opinion and one of thousands. I grew up with spideman and batman and superman buying the toys comics albums, tapes you name it. they will alwasy be my favorite heros. not to mention, justice league, wonderwoman, thor, flash, and green arrow which i hear they are making all of these movies now. I think its great. but i hope that all of them isnt all dressed in black with the dark theme. only batman, maybe greenarrow or like punisher and ghostrider should be the black theme. however the stories could be dark sure. in spiderman 4 or 5 i think it would be great to have manwolf and mystrio. i remember a comic book record i used to have at the age of 5 about manwolf against spiderman that was a cool scary story. wish i still had it they should do it. anyway these are my comments and i support anyones opinions that is just my nature. ps wonder why they dont redo heman since even though i loved heman they kind of messed up the one in 84 with dolph lungren.
I thought that Spider-Man 3 was almost perfect. When Peter Parker was dancing around because of his new strength that the black costume endowed him with was really funny- It’s good that they added some humor and lightness to it and heck, I would probably do the same thing cause I would have the kick-ass black Spidey costume. They should have made the movie to be a lot longer with more of Pete in his new black costume beating the crap out of criminals. Venom is Spider-Man’s true best arch-nemesis Super-Villain and there should have been more of him, but I’m fine that he was at least in the movie- I was waiting for the Spider-Man movies to finally become kinda dark. I don’t know about any of you people, but I think Spidey with the alien symbiote costume is better than Venom and Batman. I did like the Dark Knight movie though mainly because of Heath Ledger as the perfect Joker. I like Carnage even more than Venom and Joker too. Last, they should have just kept Gwen Stacy out of the movie, even though she’s hot. MJ is Pete’s true one & only soulmate.
I just can’t get past the dumpy special effects in the Spider-Man films.
Any momentum the films have, seem to grind to a halt, as soon as “Spidey” slings from building to building, as it looks like a C-level video game.
Comment by Reality check — September 7, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
Comment by Craig Olshlager — September 7, 2008 @ 12:23 am
Oh! For the love of God! Spidey 3 sucks big time. How many times must we repeat ourselves here? Spidey 1 was an ok movie, and Spidey 2 was so-so. It was only when Spidey 3 came out, then we all finally realized what a truly stupid movie it was, all 3 of them
Nuff said. Die Spidey..DIE already
I’m actually looking forward to seeing if Raimi can pick up the ball that he dropped with SM3 and run with it. Because I LOVED the first two movies, and think the third was just an aberration, caused the shoe-horning of Venom into the storyline.
What would be awesome is a story where Doc Connors not only becomes The Lizard, but leads an army of lizards to try and conquer Manhattan from the sewers up. Imagine that. Give it kind of a catastrophic Cloverfield edge, and maybe it will appease the people out there who believe that in a post-Nolan-Batman world, all comic book movies have to be DARK now.
I’m fine with recasting Peter Parker and/or Mary Jane,though. And I’m even okay with Iron Man and/or Avengers cameos, as long as it doesn’t feel forced. Those guys cross over in the comics all the time. As long as it’s Raimi making the creative decisions, and not Avi Arad or Sony.
I honestly don’t understand all the hate for Raimi post-Spidey 3, as though one disappointing film invalidates two that, at the time, a majority of the public/fandom loved. And this is even more puzzling in light of that fact that, as we now know, that third film was hamstrung by studio interferance from the start, with an unrealistic/forced schedule, an unfinished/unpolished script, and elements shoehorned in at the last minute. It’s even more ironic that the things that made the fans most unhappy were the ones that were forced on the film at the eleventh hour in an attempt to pander to those very same fans. I only hope that, this time around, Sony allows the filmmakers ample time to finish and lock the script, and that they don’t keep trying to rebuild the engine once the train has left the station.
The reason Spider Man 3 bombed is Bryce Dallas Howard who is the kiss of death for any film just as Paula Marshall is the kiss of death for any television show.
What? That’s so unfair. Miss Howard didn’t write or direct Spiderman 3. The movie wasn’t that bad. It just pales in comparison with the first two films.
It was a case of “projectile disfunction”!
ok, based on what was said previously, for those who want a bit of a darker Spidey movie in the vein of TDK, it really pigeonholes the story into incorporating one villain that stands out above all as completely insane and bent on wanton destruction: Carnage. It was bad enough that they ruined Venom by trying to crowbar into SM3; I don’t think they should ruin it even more by bringing in another Venom-esque character.
I agree with the general consensus about the third movie; it’s the only comic book movie that I’ve actually bought on DVD and still have not watched once. In light of what was said about Avi Arad screwing up the script and changing things around, that really explains a lot. I think Raimi gave Sony an “I told you so” during talks of doing a fourth movie and now he wants to redeem himself. I think we should give him that chance, he absolutely killed it with the first two films.
I also agree with the “no more brooding Peter Parker” deal too, it’s about time his testicles dropped and he actually has some confidence in his personal life. He didn’t stay a brooding sullen, unsure teenager forever.
I think the villain(s) for the next two films should be the Vulture, Lizard, or Scorpion. The Scorpion story would be a great way to incorporate JJJ more directly into the story, as I think he’s been the most perfectly portrayed (and if you don’t know about this story, look the comics up people). It would also become a great crime/detective based story and also a dark one because you can make the Scorpion be as crazy as the Joker, and then you’d have to deal not only with Spider-Man losing his mind trying to figure out what’s going on, but then you also have JJJ having to deal with the decision he’s made in recruiting a trained killer. Unfortunately they dropped the ball with the Green Goblin being that type of character, because in my honest opinion he’s Spider-Man’s equivalent of the Joker in the comic books.
Regardless, I think that Sam Raimi will deliver if left to his own devices. They really do need to re-cast MJ or just keep her minimally in the story, or at the very least, a shitload less brooding and dark. She’s supposed to be as happy go lucky as Spider-Man is.
To the poster who commented on the actual ASM comic over the last 6 or 7 years, I have to completely disagree with you to a point. JMS’s 5 year, 60-issue run on Amazing Spider-Man was some of the most entertaining and funny writing I’ve ever seen in a comic book. I actually enjoyed the idea that there was a bit of a destiny involved in him getting his powers. The book started to fall apart for me with joining the Avengers and being the fence sitter during Civil War. Revealing his identity to the world was the beginning of the end for this book. The Back in Black story kicked ass because you got to finally see Spidey cut loose and see what he can do when pushed to the brink. But then Joe Quesada had to go and fuck things all up and completely retcon the last 25 years of continuity all because he never liked the marriage. It’s starting to get a little better now, but it’s nowhere near the caliber the story was 2 years ago.
Anyway, bottom line; give them a chance to redeem themselves for Spider-Man 4. Based on how good 1 and 2 were, I think the faithful fans should give them a pass. This will be the movie that makes or breaks the franchise.
spider-man one and two redefined comic movies! they were ridiculously awesome and everyone should be able to remember when they were coming out in theatres and almost everyone coming out of them were stunned at how great those movies were.
spider-man three had some problems, sure, but it also served to wrap up the initial trilogy. the movies haven’t been so much about spider-man as they are about Peter Parker, and this first trilogy was centered around the friendships of Peter, Harry, and Mary Jane. the three of them went through a lot, and i’m sure as we’ll see in movies 4 and 5, the focus will shift off of his high school friends and more into his adult life.
these are going to be awesome movies, i’m pumped!!!
To start, I would like to note here that I had been a very avid reader of the Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man titles until the clone business came out. That being said…
First, responding to previous posts: SM 1 & 2 were very good. Like previously stated, they recharged the comic book movie genre. Where as SM 3… well… it was like a studio movie using the characters of a good comic book title and didn’t care what happened to it. I feel Sam Raimi still has his integrity as a director and that his hand was forced. Tobey McGuire performs as Peter Parker and voices the great wise-guy one-liners as Spider Man exactly like I imagined from reading the comic books. The only one to blame for SM 3’s downfall can be Sony and their interpretation of what people as a whole want for their dollar in the theatre.
Second, I just want to throw my 2 cents out there for villians that could potentially be in future Spider-Man or possible cross over comic book movies. I would like to see Chameleon, Hydroman, Hobgoblin, Kraven the Hunter, Calypso, and/or Mysterio in a future title.
As far cross over movies, the one I want to see the most would be the Secret Wars, but I’d settle for the New Fantastic Four (where Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider replace the FF team while they are away.)
aw shit… this is a good thing they are making 4 and 5 but sam raimi… great… more ridiculous directing and producing, omg they should put lizardman and maybe, just maybe black kat… man wolf… wtf is wrong witht his guy, put popular villains like for example… carnage, shocker, elctro, venom… this time way buffer and more venomous,hob goblin… not the pathetic night surfer similarities goblin2…. and yes im so happy tobey is back, hes awesome and hopefully kirsten is out of the movie for good, recast her role, 1. she didnt even have the personality like MJ and 2. horrible acting in prt 3. 4 & 5 better be a worth waiting for
Not for nothing, but after seeing Tobey acting in Spidey 3, I felt really bad for the shellacking that Hayden Christensen got for his work in Episode III.
SHAME ON ALL OF YOU FOR MAKING A MOCKERY OF THESE MOVIES, THEY ARE THE BEST OF THE GENRE AND I TRUELY BELIVE THATNONE OF YOU WOULD KNOW GOOD ACTING AND GOOD DRAMA FROM A PLAYSTATION GAME, YOU GEEKS.
The 4th movie needs carnage and venom in it.and the lizard man. that would be sweet
That’s a fantastic blog post, keep up the excellent work!!
they need to work a little harder the 3 one it was okay but more venom and action
my favourite vilian in spider-man is venom totally.
my faourite vilian in sipider-man is venom totaly
Actually the Sandman character was handled far worse than Venom. They awkwardly retconned the killing of Uncle Ben to shoehorn Sandman into the story, in a forced effort to make a “personal” connection between Sandman and Peter Parker. Then they made Spidey “forgive” him at the end of the movie, in a very sappy copout that is not true to the crimefighting nature of the character or his origin. Awful, awful, liberal-tinged rewriting of a comic book legend there. Not to mention they were very unimaginative with the Sandman action scenes and effects. He could have been as creepy and threatening as the T-1000. I could even show you a Spider-Man cartoon from the 1980s that got better action scenes in that vein out of Sandman. Venom, on the other hand, was handled fairly faithfully to the comics. His connection with Peter wasn’t forced and he was allowed to be a genuinely evil villain. Thank God Marvel “forced” Venom into the movie or it might have been more of a washout.
More proof that studio suits are idiots.
“Peter Parker has no dark side himself.”
Umm, what was the third movie all about, then?
Comment by Studio Fool — September 5, 2008
^I am guessing you didn’t read the whole paragraph.
“Peter Parker has no dark side himself. In Spider-Man 3 it was the black costume. Peter Parker’s struggle is about sacrifice.”
Did you ever see Peter betray his friends when he didn’t have the suit? The suit was changing him to the person he never wanted to be. All I’m saying is.. Read carefully before posting idiot comments.
im sorry. i keep going down the posts and see people saying they want the vulture in the next movie.
i just dont see it, i read the comic books for the years and the vulture is an extremly lame character, and doesn’t and would not have the screen presense nessasary to make a good villian.
they need to put fear back in Spiderman, and what better way to do that than with a combo of the lizard and carnage. thats a perfect duo for the spiderman4 and 5. they should put one in each to allow for effective character development for each villin. The last movie left ways for them to both be easily incorporated into the storyline.
imagine the complexity of fighting the lizard with peter parking knowing underneath it lyes his mentor, and carnage, possibly the most powerful and deeply disturbing character ever created in the spiderman series. it could put the series right back were it should be, on top. I think Riami in his stubborness for newer spiderman villians will be relluctant to go with carnage, but hopefully sony will show him the light.
As for kristen dunst not returning to the spiderman series could only be a blessing, she was a terrible mary jane and her character did not possess any of the attitude or strength the original mary jane had. Her whining about her life in SM 3 was one of the reasons it wasn’t as good as it could have been. The original mary jane never would have let harry force her to break up with peter knowing that peter is spiderman…
sandman was done fairly well in the third movie, they gave a good back story and were able to get people interested in the character behind the villian, but venom was rushed completly. he was barely in the movie at all and did not get anywhere near the time a villian of his magnatude deserved.
I THINK THERE SHOULD BE SPIDERMAN 4 AND 5 BUT SPIDERMAN3 WASNT SO GOOD I LIKED THE ACTION BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS MOSTLY A TALK MOVIE WERE THEY TALK MOST OF THE MOVIE,ALSO I DIDNT LIKE THAT VENOM WAS IN IT FOR LIKE 20 MINITES HE SHOULDVE BEEN IN IT LONGER,ANYWAY I THINK THERE SHOULD BE TWO VILLINS IN SPIDERMAN 4,CARNAGE BECUSE HES LIKE ONE OF THE BEST VILLINS FROM SPIDERMAN,AND TO RELATE HIM TO THE MOVIES CONNERS STILL HAS A SAMPLE,AND I THINK SOME GETS AWAY WHEN SPIDY BLOWS IT UP,AND LIZARD AS THE SECOND VILLIN BECUSE I DONT KNOW BUT HE WOULD BE COOL AND ALSO DR.CONNERS IS IN THE SPIDERMAN MOVIES SO LIZARD AS SECOND VILLIN,AND SPIDERMAN5 I DONT KNOW MABEY ELECTRO AND VOLTURE
I haven’t read any of the comics before seeing the films, and I can honestly say that it doesn’t matter how different the two are. All three Spider-Man films are unique and genuine in their own way, and I was on the edge of my seat the first time I saw each one. I know without a doubt that Spider-Man 4 is going to be awesome, and if they include number 5, all the better. What I loved most about Spider-Man 3 was both the inclusion of the Symbiote suit, and the three foes that Spidey had to face. Having Harry be one of them was awesome, though I don’t quite understand why he was called “New Goblin.” Whatever happened to Hobgoblin?
The Lizard would be an excellent choice of villain in the next film, and so would Carnage. I’d also like to see Mysterio and Electro, maybe even Shocker. Perhaps Spidey could obtain some new costumes as well.
put a part with mary jane and peter getting married
and maryjane having a baby and i dont want spidermantoo be bad and i want peter to wear the red and blue suit and i dont want him too be bad
i hope tobey makes his spider man 4 movie because he the best hero in marvel he will save new york from any disaster ohhif you dont know which villan to choose i say let the villan be carnage check the comics i hope i helped and go spidey
I did fall asleep during SM3. And that is surprising. The most interesting thing about SM3 was the trailer. I liked that sequence where arrogant Maguire struts about town and the sequence didn’t even belong in the movie. It was like some movie within a movie thing. Sandman was truly trite in every way.
That’s a fantastic blog post, keep up the excellent work!!
I hope the lizrd is the next villian in Spiderman4. The lizard, the Vulture, the Rhino, and Electro are big and well known Spiderman villians. Please don’t give us Kraven the Hunter or Morbuis the vampire who are not as popular as the villians I just mentioned. It would be awesome to see Dr Curt Connors transform into the savage Lizard who goes on a bloodthirsty rampage. This would make the Lizard a more darker, sinister, and scary villian than the past villians. Spiderman needs to take on a real dangerous villian who is physically scary as well as terrifying. I wouldn’t want to see another villian who wears another suit like the Green Goblin or Mysterio. Give us a villian who is human at first than metamorphically transforms into a monster like the lizard.
I liked that sequence where arrogant Maguire struts about town and the sequence didn’t even belong in the movie. It was like some movie within a movie thing. Sandman was truly trite in every way.
I liked that sequence where arrogant Maguire struts about town and the sequence didn’t even belong in the movie. It was like some movie within a movie thing. Sandman was truly trite in every way.
Not for nothing, but after seeing Tobey acting in Spidey 3, I felt really bad for the shellacking that Hayden Christensen got for his work in Episode III.
watch ironman through the credits,nick fury tells tony about avenger project that S.H.I.L.D. is working on, and how there are other heroes in the world?
I did fall asleep during SM3. And that is surprising. The most interesting thing about SM3 was the trailer. I liked that sequence where arrogant Maguire struts about town and the sequence didn’t even belong in the movie. It was like some movie within a movie thing. Sandman was truly trite in every way.