Quite often, an overabundance of villains can be the kiss of death for superhero movie sequels. The original Batman franchise quickly collapsed under its own weight, and the less said about Spider-Man 3, the better. Of course, there can be exceptions (The Dark Knightsprings to mind), but fans have already wondered if Amazing Spider-Man 2, which officially boasts Electro and the Rhino in its villainous ranks (and may have the Green Goblin lurking somewhere in the wings) is getting a bit ambitious. But what if there's a larger plan at work?
Rumors that the Spider-Man franchise is building towards an unheard of supervillain themed crescendo have been circulating for weeks now. It's unlikely that the folks involved with the Amazing Spider-Man franchise are unaware of the failures of previous films that got a little overzealous with the baddies. In a recent interview with Crave, Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb appears to acknowledge, albeit in a rather oblique manner, these concerns.
"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."
Now, it's quite possible that Mr. Webb is talking about a character like Cardiac or some other "ancillary" character with cinematic potential but...let's face it, Spider-Man's rogues' gallery is second to none. Only Batman has a more impressive collection of foes. And with the billion dollar success of the Avengers (even Warner Bros. are finally plodding their way towards a Justice League film), fresh in their minds, Sony is probably painfully aware that they don't have a suitable "team" concept to deploy in their cinematic Spider-Man universe.
Unless, of course, the "ancillary characters" he's referring to are the villains. In which case, the fact that we'll have seen four villains in two Spider-Man films suddenly doesn't seem all that crazy. Sony may not have a superhero team that they can assemble around Spidey, but they sure do have a squad of supervillains who can make life extraordinarily difficult for Peter (and potentially make life extraordinarily lucrative for Mr. Webb and friends). A superhero movie in which the hero's life is put in the background in order to spotlight six extraordinary villains, each with their own origins and motivations would certainly qualify as more than "just a Spider-Man movie" and would be a first for the increasingly crowded superhero genre.
What's more, Marvel is now quite dilligent about planting seeds in their comics...just look at how carefully they've begun to cultivate the Guardians of the Galaxy as major players in the comic book world in advance of their big screen debut next year. With that in mind, it's probably not a coincidence that the recently-launched Superior Foes of Spider-Man limited series (which is terrific, by the way: read our review) is focused squarely on the Sinister Six.
Perhaps we're reading a little too deeply into this, but it's hard not to speculate. Between Mr. Webb's cryptic remarks, the evidence on screen, and the renewed interest in the Sinister Six concept in the comics, things at least appear to start adding up...whether or not they add up to Six remains to be seen.
The complete interview with Marc Webb is over at Crave and you should totally go there and read the rest, as he drops more hints about what's in store for Amazing Spider-Man 2 and beyond!
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