Looking at the schedule I don't think things are as dire as people are trying to make it out...
First, if you can be honest with yourselves then you will agree that Sony is making money with Spiderman. That means that there is no way, ever, that Sony would sell the franchise back unless Disney was willing to pay over the top dollar, which I can't see them doing.
So that's pretty much it, Sony is keeping Spiderman. Lets deal with and accept it and move on...
It makes much more sense to come out with another Spiderman movie, based on the set up from TASM1 and 2 (and not reboot), which keeps Garfield and Sally, with cameos from Emma (in either nightmare sequences or as a plot device used by the villains). If they planned the release correctly it would be able to compete and again, make Sony a lot of money.
So lets look at the 2016 CBM release dates:
February 12: Deadpool (Fox)
Anyone else totally psyched?
March 25: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
I'll see it, but this is another one I'm not totally sold on. Aflack as Batman, really?
May 6: Captain America: Civil War (new sub-title)
Yup, wouldn't want to be up against this.
May 27: X-Men: Apocalypse (Fox)
Or this! Please give me a young Nightcrawler!
July 8: (originally reserved by Marvel Studios but no mention made during Marvel's 10/28 event)
Hmmm...
August 5: Suicide Squad
Not so convinced that this one will be a big deal. Most people will say "who?"
November 4: Doctor Strange (new addition)
Will crush S6 if they keep their November 11th opening date, or unless they change it to a Spiderman movie. Cumberbach should be amazing!
November 11: Sinister Six (Sony)
So here's the thing...
The GA (which is where the profits come from) knows Spiderman. Some know of the S6 because of what was set up in TASM2, but they don't know them that well. What the GA wants (and frankly what most of us fanboys want) is a Spiderman movie with Peter Parker going up against one of his major villains (like Kraven or Mysterio), dealing with his family, school and work issues (Daily Bugle), and his personal relationships (MJ and Black Cat at this point).
The truth is that Sony can still do a lot with where they are at. Some people above say screw it, they have messed up things so badly that they should just quit. First, as explained above, it's not happening. But second, what have they done that is that bad?
- Yes, it appears that Norman is dead. Yes, most of us would rather have Norman as Green Goblin, but at this point, whatever. At least they didn't turn Norman into Venom or make him have sex with Gwen!
- Yes, there are some things that are not resolved, but is that really that bad of a thing? Yes, the Peter's parents story is not yet fully resolved, but they can either leave that one alone for now, or they could integrate it into the next story and resolve it. Actually, with the right villains (Cameleon or Mysterio) they could make it a main plot point (just imagine Peter seeing his father and what that would do to him mentally).
- Is there too many subplots? Maybe so, which kind of goes along with the above point. But again, they can either leave some be for now, or go ahead and make them a part of the story and resolve them in this next one.
- The villains have been sub-par. Yes, this may be the biggest issue with this series, but if they focus they can fix this. This is one of the reasons why I'm all for focusing on one or two villains, and not going with the Six! See, if it was a story about Kraven and maybe Cameleon then you get a focused story. Yes, maybe Kraven was hired by the Gentleman or the Goblin, but the focus could be on the main villain. IMO, Rhino wasn't that great and that last scene was stupid, and although Jamie Foxx is an amazing actor (as is Giamatti) his over the top performance of Dillon almost ruined the movie for me. A Mech Rhino was just stupidity, and although I ended up liking the look of Electro in the end, Dillon was so pitiful it ruined the character and the story for me. The Villain(s) need to be done right this time.
- These movies seem to be just setting up future movies. Well yes, that is the drawback to a franchise, sometimes too much goes into setting up the future. Marvel got it right cause they were able to use numerous movies to set up their one big one, which worked. It allowed the GA to meet all of the individuals before they were brought together. But that isn't possible in the Spiderman franchise. But, they've done enough setting up so hopefully the next one can minimize that and focus on the story of Spiderman and his main villain!
So IMO what Sony should do is:
1. Schedule their next movie for July 2016 (seems to be an open date) with just enough inbetween time from X-Men and this Suicide Squad thing.
2. Make it a Spiderman movie and not some movie focused on villains redeeming themselves. The GA knows Spiderman, so focus on him. Everything hinges on Sony realizing this!
3. Keep Garfield for this one. Truth is he wasn't that bad (much better than Macguire IMO). I still have nightmares where Toby is dancing!
4. Use Emma through either nightmares or as a plot device. She still has star power and most would like to see her. And lets be honest, part of the story still needs to be Peter's guilt.
5. Have Black Cat in the movie as a sexual tension plot point to add to everything Peter is dealing with. The difference is that she is flirting with Spiderman, not Peter.
6. Introduce MJ, but don't allow it to become romantic yet. Do that too soon and it will be ruined. Also, who they cast for MJ will be very critical! They need the 616 MJ so she's different than Gwen. Effectively make her a friend for now and one that Peter can go too to help deal with his issues. At the same time he must (for now) keep his secret from her.
7. Focus on the villains. Have one main and maybe one minor, with the Gentleman and/or GG in the background.
8. Don't go for the big one yet, which means hold off on the S6 to give more time for the setup and don't go for Venom, though Eddie Brock can be introduced. Good candidates would be Kraven and his brother Cameleon, or (and I think many of you would love this) Mysterio
9. Give us what we want as far as Peter's school and work, which means lets see him at school (Professor Warren) and lets see the Bugle, but a little less campy this time.
10. Set up the future Spiderman movies (and not villain spin-off movies) through specific plot points (like Eddie Brock falling from grace) and through mid/post credit scenes (the S6 training with Doc Ock as the leader).
I'm willing to bet that if they went with Kraven or better yet, Mysterio as the main villain more of you would be willing to give it a chance?
