Almost four years ago Amazing Spider-Man producer Avi Arad was busy telling us that the rebooted Spider-Man movies weren’t reboots.
They very much in fact were.
Just over a year ago Arad was saying the following regarding a possible crossover between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Sony Spider-Man reboot:
“I for one don’t see the value for us in it. I think we’re doing such a good job with the Spider-Man Universe. Spider-Man is arguably the number one character in the world. He shouldn’t make a cameo.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter Avi Arad and fellow producer Matt Tolmach are no longer producers on the Spider-Man film franchise and Marc Webb won’t be returning (though we knew that already.) Arad and Tolmach have both been demoted:
… director Marc Webb will not be back to complete a third Spider-Man (the studio originally envisioned its Amazing Spider-Man oeuvre as a trilogy with Webb and Garfield aboard for all three). Amazing producers Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad have been downgraded to executive producers, with no real say in the creative direction of the franchise.
Hollywood Reporter also had the following to say about Andrew Garfield and what the current casting direction is:
And though Spider-Man will first appear in an unnamed Marvel movie, Sony and Pascal will have more influence over the actor cast in the iconic role because Sony retains final approval. The studio is currently looking for an actor much younger than 31-year-old Andrew Garfield, who most recently portrayed the superhero, as well as a writer for its reboot.
Hollywood Reporter’s basically calling this the third Spider-Man reboot. And they’re correct to do so. Still, other sites are citing their own sources saying that we’re not going to get a detailed origin again.
–George Berryman!
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They can’t use Andrew Garfield anyway. The continuity in his films doesn’t work in the MCU.
The Lizard attack in Spider-Man 1 is said by J. Jonah Jameson to have changed the world in an ASM 2 news release, not the alien attack in Avengers 1.
Sure the Avengers attack could have happened after Amazing Spider-Man 2. But if that’s the case then where was Spider-Man?
Also every person with powers in the MCU is either visited or recruited by SHIELD or Hydra. Neither has visited Spider-Man who would be REALLY easy to find. And in the case of Hydra, if they don’t recruit you they try to kill you.
It’s easy to ask for an actor to return but when you have to sit down and explain the how and why it’s much more difficult.
Personally I think Andrew made a great Spider-Man but a terrible Peter Parker. Tobey made a great Peter Parker, but a terrible Spider-Man. They can find someone better. Maybe they won’t but there is definitely room for improvement.
Greg Weisman should write it.
he shouldn’t approach any of the avengers as an apprentice, should have his own experience that may or may not work well with their experience. if he has 2 or 3 years under his belt that would be alright.
I wish I could get excited about this.
Spider-Man is such a great character that a great movie adaptation should be an easy layup. Yet they’ve managed to screw up this franchise since 2002 with silliness like organic webbing, too many villains, Nazi Mad Scientist Kafka, the spider-stalker, Parker’s parents (and their connection to the radioactive spider), retroviral hypodysplasia and unbelievably stupid dialogue (“There was a disturbance”?). I don’t see why he needs to be a teen, Spider-Man/Peter Parker was already a “grown-up” when I started reading the comics. But hey, give Spider-Man to Whedon or Favreau, whatever they do will be a step up from what we’ve gotten so far.
@ 7 – I think there are pros and cons to ditching the Webb continuity. On the one hand the very recurring good cast won’t be retuning, Peter’s age will be reset to teenager (again) and two movies worth of set up will never be resolved. On the other we don’t have to suffer through misguided spin-offs like Sinister Six, or ‘Glass Ceiling’, or Venom, and Spider-Man now also can share the screen with Daredevil, Hulk, and legacy characters like Miles, Miguel can make appearances.
On a unrelated note. All this movie speculation/news reminded me of the James Cameron Spidey script, I’ve been reading it, and man am I glad that never got made.
Sigh. I wish I cared anymore. I will see the movies and hope they will be good, but I don’t want him in High School again or exploring that setting. I fucking hate the YOUNG YOUNG YOUNG Spider-Man. I want to see him start young and grow
I wish Marvel employees would stop telling us lies. I have lost almost all respect for a company I used to love.
@#5: Exactly. They put a lot of effort into building the Sony Spider-Man Universe and despite the (admittedly) poor scripts of these movies, they seemed to know what they wanted to do with the characters. Taking what was established (i.e., actors like Garfield and Sally Field, origin story out of the way, the emotional punch of Gwen Stacy’s death) and introducing it into the wider Marvel Universe could be a win-win for both Marvel and Sony. Now that they plan to “start over” it’s risky for both and leaves Sony with half-spun webs.
Wouldn’t this be the 3rd iteration and the second reboot? 😉
I think losing Webb and Garfield is a mistake in the long run. I think that given time the Amazing movies would play better as a trilogy with the story threads complete than an unfinished misfire. Tom Welling was 21 when he started Smallville, playing a 14 year old and did it for 10 years. Garfield could easily pass for a 20s college student, which would be where Peter was at the end of ASM2. Garfield clearly loves the character and who knows if the next guy will? I loved seeing reports of him going out in costume and interacting with kids.
I also think a crossover would feel more like a big deal if we get carryover. Starting from scratch lessens the impact of seeing the character. Ruffalo is the Hulk now and was excellent, but I still wonder if Incredible Hulk would feel more legit of the actor had carried over.
Spiderman will be put in high school and where they reboot the comics in secret wars, we will also have spider-man in high school in the comic books.
I doubt anyone at Marvel thinks ill of Garfield. He’s 30+ years old, and they want a fresh beginning.
On second thought, I can already hear the argument that Spidey is the one Marvel character who needs to appeal to a younger audience. Yeah, I’m sure that Iron Man, Thor and The Avengers didn’t appeal to 15-year-olds at all. :-/
“Almost four years ago Amazing Spider-Man producer Avi Arad was busy telling us that the rebooted Spider-Man movies weren’t reboots.”
Ha, ha, I remember that. I still wish he was right. I don’t see why Spider-Man movies cannot take the James Bond route and keep telling good stories starring Spider-Man. Yes, the origin is pretty cool, but there’s so much more to choose from in the annals of Amazing alone. Also, this need to keep Peter Parker young I really don’t get. Andrew Garfield is 31 but easily looks like 25. They could keep him in college for another 10 years worth of movies. Any new setting in High School will feel awkward as soon as the actor grows … at all. Which he will.
Let the characters grow, dammit.