Disney’s Marvel has built its superhero universe around its Avengers line and looks to expand with Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man in there Phase 3 movie releases. 20th Century Fox is merging their X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises into a shared universe. And now Sony Pictures, whose two most profitable franchises are James Bond and Spider-Man, is planning on expanding the line of the latter with new movies featuring supporting characters.
In a press release released late last night on ElectroArrives.com, Sony Pictures announced that they will expand Spider-Man’s universe with the no-brainer “The Amazing Spider-Man 3”, and two other films “Venom,” and “The Sinister Six”.
Which Venom should we expect, the villainous Venom as portrayed poorly by Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3? A homicidal Eddie Brock trying to be a hero as portrayed in the comic book? Or paralyzed war veteran Flash Thompson working as an special agent as recently portrayed in the Venom comic books? Will Venom be a hero or villain? And what type of role will Spider-Man play in this film?
Venom from Spider-Man 3
Venom – Eddie Brock
Venom – Flash Thompson
“He sure likes his guns…”
Venon – Flash Thompson
“…and his knives!”
The Sinister Six comprised of the six Spider-Man villains: Doctor Octopus, Electro, The Vulture, Sandman, Mysterio, and Kraven has to involve Spider-Man on a huge level. As it is highly unlikely that Spider-Man could win the day against all six on his own, what other heroic characters from the Spider-Man universe might we see in this movie? Does Sony plan to stick with the original six villains the comprised the Sinister Six or do they tend to use one already featured in Sony’s “The Amazing Spider Man films”?
The Sinister Six (Clockwise from top left: Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, Vulture, and Electro
We don’t know these questions for know, but we sure have something to look forward to.
From the official press release (view here:
“In a move to forge a new legacy in the story of Peter Parker on screen, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in association with Marvel Entertainment, is developing several new projects in the Spider-Man franchise, with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to collaborate on overseeing the developing story over several films that will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, and Hannah Minghella, president of Production for the studio.
The five writers, along with the two producers and Marc Webb, have formed a franchise braintrust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread throughout the films. Under the deals, the studio announced that Kurtzman & Orci & Pinkner are writing the screenplay for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which the studio hopes Webb will return to direct; the film will go into production next fall for release on June 10, 2016. In addition, the team will build on the cinematic foundation laid by Webb, Arad, and Tolmach in the first two movies. They will expand the franchise as Kurtzman & Orci & Solomon will write the screenplay for Venom, which Kurtzman will direct; also, Goddard will write, with an eye to direct, The Sinister Six, focusing on the villains in the franchise. Hannah Minghella and Rachel O’Connor will oversee the development and production of these films for the studio.
In tapping these five writers, the studio and the producers are guiding the future of the franchise with the writer/producers who have each played significant and key roles in developing such highly successful franchises, films, and series as Star Trek, Transformers, “Alias,” “Fringe,” Men in Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, World War Z, “Lost,” Cloverfield, The Cabin in the Woods, and Marvel’s upcoming “Daredevil” series.
Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, “The Spider-Man film franchise is one of our studio’s greatest assets. We are thrilled with the creative team we have assembled to delve more deeply into the world that Marc, Avi and Matt have begun to explore in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We believe that Marc, Alex, and Drew have uniquely exciting visions for how to expand the Spider-Man universe in each of these upcoming films.”
Arad and Tolmach added, “This collaboration was born out of the great experience we and Marc had working with Alex, Bob, and Jeff on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With more than fifty years’
wealth of stories in the comic books to draw upon for inspiration, the Spider-Man universe is truly boundless; in addition, the Spider-Man comics have the greatest rogues gallery of any series, and to have the chance to explore that on film is truly thrilling. Until now, we have approached each film as a separate, self-contained entity, but with this move, we have the opportunity to grow the franchise by looking to the future as we develop a continuous arc for the story. That is what Alex, Bob, Jeff, Ed, and Drew will do in this unprecedented collaboration, and we’re excited about the directions they are taking the character and the world.”
The most successful franchise in the history of Columbia Pictures, Spider-Man is embraced all over the world. The four Spider-Man films to date have taken in over $3.2 billion worldwide.
Spider-Man, Venom, The Sinister Six and other Spider-Man related characters are licensed to Sony by Marvel Entertainment.”
Check out this funny Sinister Six artwork from claudetc that was posted on deviant art here
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