Sony Plans a 'Spider-Man' Movie Every Year; Marc Webb Will Direct 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3'

When we got a new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the beginning of the week, I mentioned that I'm worried about how the movie will turn out, with one reason for that worry being that I'm not quite sure how Sony is going to spin this movie into a larger Spider-Man Cinematic Universe.

In an interview published on Tuesday, Sony Pictures Co-Chairman Amy Paschal told Variety that studio was not only planning Venom and Sinister Six movies (which we found out about in December) but also envisioned a new Spider-Man movie every year.

I was already concerned about the feasibility of Venom and Sinister Six movies — would audiences really want to see entire movies based on villains? Paschal's plan for a Spider-Man movie every year worries me even more. It's one thing for Marvel Studios to release several movies a year. The studio is constantly bringing new franchises to the big screen, tying them into Avengers films through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sony doesn't have that going with Spider-Man. While the studio thinks they can make a Spider-Man Cinematic Universe happen, I don't think they're going to be able to pull it off. What do these movies culminate in? The actual main Spider-Man films? Sinister Six movies? Andrew Garfield has already said that he's done with the franchise after The Amazing Spider-Man 3 — is Sony willing to recast Peter Parker in the middle of its ambitious plan?

Speaking of The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Variety also broke the news that Marc Webb would be back to direct the next sequel. Having the same director at the helm for all three movies of a trilogy isn't a common thing these days. Accelerated shooting schedules are great for pumping out sequels quickly, but they don't help retain directors. At least Webb and Garfield will be able to finish what they started before Sony tries to stretch the franchise into something larger and probably unrealistic.