Sony has announced the planned release date for the sequel to its upcoming Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. The second film is planned for May 2, 2014, which would kick off the summer film season if it remains on track.
If Sony announced the date so far in advance – well before the first film is even finished with production – it obviously has a lot of confidence that people will continue to go see Marvel films.
It certainly makes sense, since the recent Marvel films, like Thor and Captain America, have been doing so well. Still, I’m not sure I have as much confidence in Spider-Man as they do.
It feels like we just finished a Spider-Man trilogy, and while it was entertaining, there was not much substance to it, and that makes it difficult, I think, for audiences to really look forward to another trilogy.
People are really excited about the Avengers films because Iron Man set such a great precedent. Yes, the subsequent movies really gained momentum, but I’m not sure people will connect Spider-Man to the other Marvel films in their head – unless the company starts connecting them in the world of marketing and PR.
Sure, we comicbook fans understand Spider-Man and Iron Man live in the same universe, but frankly, most of the movie going public does not. From talking to people who don’t read comics, it seems they mostly believe the superheroes are either all in different universes (and getting them together for one story is a new thing), or that they are all in the same universe, DC and Marvel together. For example, I cringed when I recently heard someone ask their friend “Why isn’t Superman in The Avengers?” at a recent Captain America showing.
Obviously, people are going to need to see some posters or something which specifically ties them together, or the success of the Marvel films of the last few years won’t bring up this one from the depths the previous trilogy knocks it down to.
Of course, the primary reason to even want to call a date this early is to make sure no one else claims it. Announcing the date before anyone else gets the chance assures them the coveted spot, as other similar genre films simply won’t want to release on the same weekend.
The Amazing Spider-Man, which will hit theaters July 3 , 2012, covers the origin of Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Yes, again. His foes this time around will be Proto-Goblin and The Lizard. Parker will be played by Andrew Garfield. The film also stars Ema Stone, Martin Sheen and Denis Leary.
