SINISTER SIX And VENOM Will Be Released Before AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 4

Last year, we learned that Sony would be building a Spider-Man Cinematic Universe by releasing Amazing Spider-Man spinoff films of Venom and The Sinister Six. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is only weeks away (one week if you live in the U.K.), and from what we’ve heard, the film will be taking the first steps towards setting up this universe. However, these spinoff movies will be coming sooner than we may have thought.

Den of Geek has learned that Sony plans on releasing Sinister Six and Venom before The Amazing Spider-Man 4. The films will still follow The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which will be released on June 10, 2016. Although The Amazing Spider-Man 4 was set to be released on May 4, 2018, producer Matt Tomalch states that that spot will still be occupied by a Spider-Man movie, just not an Amazing Spider-Man movie.

Before we know what we do with Spider-Man 4, we’re going to do Sinister Six, Venom and Spider-Man 3. There is going to be a lot of crossover in those movies. So we’re just not at Spider-Man 4, because we still have a whole other Spider-Man movie and two other movies. So we don’t know yet what [Spider-Man 4] is going to be.

I’ve been slightly critical of this Spider-Man universe because it’s hard to imagine a whole cinematic universe revolving around one character. The brilliance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that it’s not focused on one character (although Iron Man is likely the most popular one), but a cast of characters that can go off to do their own thing when they’re not teaming up together. Hell, even Fox has two properties that they can use to build their universe.

That being said, I’m glad they’re going this route with the Spider-Man movies. While it’s likely that each member of the Sinister Six will be introduced by the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 3, there still needs to be some set-up for their team up. It’s still not clear whether they will fight Spider-Man in their own movie or The Amazing Spider-Man 4, but either way it works out. If it’s in the 4th movie, the spinoff can focus on the villains coming together. If it’s in their own movie, we’ll get an epic showdown, and then The Amazing Spider-Man 4 can kick off the next phase of Spider-Man films. It will still be tricky to pull off, but at least the timeline makes a little more sense.

As for Venom (which Alex Kurtzman is attached to direct), I hope his film separates itself as an actual spinoff rather than a connective movie. If they went the Ultimate origin route, you don’t even need Spider-Man to be involved. The symbiote could just be an OsCorp experiment that somehow is freed from the lab and finds its way to possessing Eddie Brock. Sure, there could be an eventual meeting between him and Spider-Man, but for now, Venom is a strong enough character to lead his own film.

Look, I’m making the best with what we’ve been given here, all right? Spider-Man is arguably Marvel’s most recognized character, and since Sony only has the film rights to him, they have to stretch him out to cover a variety of films. It’s not the greatest situation, but it’s the one we have. We might as well work with it.

SOURCE: Den of Geek