One of the things that people wondered when they heard that Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures were going to start sharing Spider-Man was how the money was going to be split up. Was Marvel going to take some of the profit off of the solo Spider-Man films? Was Sony going to get a piece of the pie whenever Spider-Man appears in a team movie? Well, it's been announced that Sony will get all of the money that the solo films make, and Marvel will get all of the money from the team-up films.
This feels like Marvel has made off like a bandit. They didn't pay Sony to use Spider-Man, and now they get to use him in their films. Will this dramatically increase their profits? No, but that's fine, because they didn't spend any money to get Spidey, so ANY money they make is nothing but profit. On the other hand, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have made almost $710 million, but it didn't do what Sony was hoping it would do. For all the money they poured into it, and the hundreds of millions they poured into marketing the film, the actual profit from the film wasn't as it appears. Sony is really hurting right now, and even if Marvel Studios is stepping in to help them out with their solo movies, the mixed critical and fan reaction makes it difficult to simply pump out another movie.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 currently holds (as of 2/12/15) a 53 percent critic rating and a 67 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so although technically most people liked it, this is clearly a departure from the first The Amazing Spider-Man film, which holds a 73 percent critic rating and a 77 percent audience rating. This is going to put a potential dent into the 2017 Spider-Man film for those movie-goers who hear the news of another reboot and say, "Yeah, but I didn't really like the last one." So, since Marvel Studios assumes no financial risk with a solo Spider-Man film, Sony has (potentially) a lot to lose if this new movie isn't great.
Now, onto the bigger topic at hand. The second update we received about the Marvel/Sony "partnership" is that Sony has simply pushed back the release date of the Sinister Six movie, and that writer/director Drew Goddard is still on the project.
So wait...does this mean that the Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man continuity is still in play? Well, no. At least, I sincerely hope not. All this really means is that Sony believes in what they were doing for this film, so they want to continue moving forward. Does this mean we're going to see this Sinister Six?:
Most likely not. We already have news from Marvel and Sony that this will be a new Spider-Man, and therefore a new a continuity. This means that the chances of seeing Dane DeHaan's Green Goblin or Paul Giamatti's Rhino again are practically zero. What this tells me is that we're going to see a fresh take on the Sinister Six. Whether this movie will come before or after Spider-Man (2017) wasn't completely made clear, but I'd wager that we'll see this after the 2017 film. Some sites are reporting that the Venom movie and the female-led spin-off movie are also moving forward, but none of the sites I trust have mentioned them, so when more news is announced, I'll be sure to update you!
Could Spider-Man (2017) set-up this Sinister Six film? Which villains will make up this "new" Sinister Six team? Do you think it's a good idea or a bad idea that Sony won't see any profit from the Marvel Studios films that include Spider-Man? Let us know in the comments section! Thanks for reading, everyone! My name is Sam Lascio, and I am a Fanboy!
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