Is 'The Amazing Spiderman' Franchise in Trouble?

Amid recent reports that The Amazing Spiderman 3 has been pushed back to 2017, one of the screenwriters for ASM 2 Robert Orci has told IGN Movies that he has exited the sequel.  "I don't know what their plans are for that franchise," Orci said. Then when asked if he would return for future installments he said "I don't ever want to say never, but we have to figure out what their scheduling is in terms of when they want each movie. I've read probably as much as anyone else. There's a love for the Sinister Six, the idea of Venom -- there's an idea of Spider-Man's going to be one of these characters that's part of our business. He's such a popular character. Spider-Man's not going to go away any time soon. When it all happens and how and all that has yet to be determined." Orci's next project will be directing the JJ-less Star Trek 3.

Source: IGN Movies

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First off I would to say that I'm not the biggest fan of Robert Orci or his former writing partner Alex Kurtzman. They have many shitty projects clogging up their combined resume including Cowboys vs Aliens and Transformers: Revenge Of the Fallen. Overall they are mediocre writers at best. They are the geniuses behind using super blood as a plot device in both Star Trek: Into Darkness and ASM 2. Fuck, I wouldn't be surprised if they are the ones who proposed the idea that the aliens' motivation in Cowboys vs Aliens was that they wanted our gold. Just terrible. So somehow these two were believed to be featured heavily in the future of the ASM franchise. Kurtzman was to direct Venom and both of them were expected to pen the upcoming sequel. That was all before the lukewarm critical and box office reception of ASM 2. So now Orci is off to ruin Star Trek and Kurtzman is god knows where. So where does that leave Spiderman and his spinoffs?

What is really interesting is Orci's comments about not knowing the schedule of future Spidey films. A few months ago it seemed very set in stone that Amazing Spiderman 3 would be released in 2016. But in a post ASM 2 world, that no longer seems so certain. Same thing with Venom and the Sinister Six. Sony's plans for the villainous spinoffs seemed like a guarantee, but now Orci's comments make it sound like the studio is weary to make those flicks.

So let's face the facts, Amazing Spiderman 2 has (at least temporarily) crippled the once promising franchise. As a staff we gave the film an 7.5, but others were not as kind. So what was the problem with the movie? Andrew Garfield sure of hell isn't, he is a great Spiderman. Emma Stone was once again top notch. The problem is Marc Webb and the writing team. Webb has swung and missed on both of the mains villains and focus of the first two movies. 

I have never particularly found the Lizard to be an exciting villain and as for Electro, Jamie Foxx's performance of wasn't the problem, the way he was misused was. The character was extremely powerful (superpowers-wise), it just did not feel like the main villain of the film though. He was only around so when the time was right he could break Harry Osborn in Oscorp and give us a Goblin origin. Still somehow in forgien markets this film had the subtitle Rise Of Electro. Even though Electro is missing through most of the film and done away with rather quickly in the finale so that the more compelling villain Green Goblin can fuck with Peter. Webb has stated that Electro is his favorite Spiderman villain, yet the character felt like he didn't belong in this movie. 

The other main problem I have with Webb is his focus on Peter's parents. The storyline had an  obvious ending and took away valuable screen time from other scenes that could have improved the film. It just further made the film jumbled by making it spin more story lines. Also nobody has ever given a shit about Peter's parents. Like seriously I'm surprised this franchise even attempted to address them.

So yes maybe The Amazing Spiderman franchise is delaying it's 3rd film and subsequent spinoffs. But truthfully I find this to be a good thing. This franchise needs to find a new direction. Orci leaving is a good start, but I really believe Sony needs to replace Webb as well. He is great with the romantic scenes, but I'm sorry to tell him that Spiderman isn't all about romance. He picks and misuses the villains of his films and I do not want to see him ruin characters like Venom or Kraven anytime soon. Get a new writing team and tell Webb to hit the curb. Hopefully then Andrew Garfield can get a movie that his fantastic portrayal of Spiderman deserves.

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