Sequel Saturday: Aunt May I Have Another?, by Mat Bradley-Tschirgi
Every Saturday, we’ll have talk about sequels, be it rumors of upcoming films, trailers or even a look back at some old favorites.
Despite earning over $700 million worldwide, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was considered a financial disappointment. That’s a lot of money, but less than half of Marvel’s The Avengers worldwide gross. Given that Sony only has the rights to Marvel movies based on characters in the Spider-Man universe, they are scrambling to pump out as many sequels and spin-offs as possible. Everyone’s trying to capitalize on the thing Disney has been doing so well with their formula for the Marvel films- have a bunch of standalone flicks with overarching plot elements that pay off in a team-up movie after a few years.
The Amazing Spider-Man spinoffs in the works have been fast and furious. There was talks of a super-villain focused The Sinister Six leading into The Amazing Spider-Man 3. A Venom Carnage film was also in the works (does Sony love their antiheroes or what?). The latest rumor reported by Latino-Review is so nuts I can barely believe it. It’s either brilliant counter-programming at its best or desperation at its worst.
An Aunt May prequel film is allegedly under consideration. At the very least, an Aunt May film would be cheaper to make than your average super-hero joint. You could sidestep any controversy of Peter Garfield possibly not returning to the role of Spider-Man. Cast hit young actresses from TV and film, add a dollop of soap, and have a few ominous close-ups of spiders. It would be a very different take on the tired glut of super-hero films we’ve been getting.
On the other hand, if Sony didn’t get the results they wanted having a Spider-Man movie with no less than three villains (Rhino, Green Goblin, and Electro), wouldn’t an Aunt May film be less popular? If you wanted to make Spider-Man popular again, the best thing to do would be to take a break for several years. Cast a new actor as Spider-Man and don’t do another version of the damned origin story. Sony’s run on the Spider-Man films we’ve seen to date haven’t been as consistent in quality as Fox’s run on the X-Men. I’d rather time be spent crafting a decent, interesting story that’s successful as opposed to getting a bunch of spin-offs on minor characters nobody wanted in the first place.