Dear Avi Arad: For The Love Of All Things Marvel, Please STOP Making Comic Book Movies

Dear Avi Arad: For The Love Of All Things Marvel, Please STOP Making Comic Book Movies

The trailer for Madame Web was packed full of outdated ideas and comic book inaccuracies, and enough is enough...if Sony's Marvel Universe is going to survive - or at least be good - Avi Arad needs to go.

Editorial Opinion
By JoshWilding - Nov 16, 2023 10:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Madame Web

Avi Arad might just be the worst thing to ever happen to comic book movies. Oh, he'll take credit for founding Marvel Studios, and we'll give him props for the small role he played in helping make movies like Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk a reality. The truth of the matter, though, is that he was there to make sure Marvel Entertainment sold toys and, in reality, he had little faith in what would one day become the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

We'd strongly recommend picking up the newly released MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios book for further insights into why Arad was mostly a detriment to Marvel Studios in its earliest days, but have a very simple request for him today: 

Avi, for the love of God, please stop making comic book movies. 

Given his position of power in Marvel Entertainment, Arad was an executive producer on the best and worst superhero movies that the early 2000s had to offer. That includes the likes of Spider-Man, Blade II, and X-Men, along with dire efforts such as Hulk, Elektra, and Fantastic Four. However, he didn't come onto our radar until it was revealed that he was the one who pushed Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi to include Venom in the threequel. It was a mistake, but not an unforgivable one.

The Amazing Spider-Man movies followed are it's there he started exerting an even greater influence. Love or hate them, they were both a mess; that's evident from the "Untold Story" being left on the cutting room floor and The Amazing Spider-Man 2's attempt to throw the Sinister Six together in the quickest, laziest way possible. Thankfully, a spin-off and threequel were scrapped (a key plot point in the latter saw a magic potion used to raise the dead). 

Arad's producing partner, Matt Tolmach, also needs to take responsibility, but it's apparent neither of them knows what they're doing. 

With Tom Holland's Peter Parker firmly entrenched in the MCU - a notion recently dismissed by Arad as a "terrible" idea despite the wall-crawler starring in a record-breaking and critically acclaimed trilogy - he's been let loose to produce low-rent garbage like Venom and Morbius. Both movies look and feel like they were made in the mid-2000s, a period when Arad had a significant amount of power within Marvel. Whether he's trying to recreate what he sees as the brand's glory days or is simply an out-of-touch 75-year-old, the veteran producer is doing this Marvel Universe nothing but damage. 

Alas, Kraven the Hunter, Silk, Spider-Man Noir - which, hilariously, won't revolve around a Peter Parker Variant - and more are all on the way. Arad has even set his sights back on a Sinister Six project and decided to tease it in the closing moments of Morbius; the scene, cobbled together in reshoots, is best described as both painful and embarrassing. Madame Web (there are conflicting reports about Arad's involvement, though it has signs of his fingerprints all over) is another movie riddled with outdated, cliched ideas, all of which will be familiar to those of you who had to suffer through blockbusters like X-Men: The Last Stand, Blade: Trinity, and Daredevil

Some will point to the animated Spider-Verse movies as proof that Arad knows his stuff and, sure, that's what he'd like you to think. He's even found his fair share of box office success. Still, Sony should be looking beyond that and realising these movies could make so much more without his input. Heck, we don't know how it happened, but Spider-Man: No Way Home even ended with a sickening message that read, "The Filmmakers Would Like To Gratefully Acknowledge The Original True Believer, Avi Arad, Whose Vision Led The Way To Bringing These Iconic Characters To The Screen."

That's pure ego-stroking nonsense almost certainly included to keep him away from Spider-Man moving forward. One can only wince when thinking what might have happened had he got his way and brought the web-slinger back into the fold after Far From Home was released. 

Arad has admittedly produced some incredibly successful movies and we've no doubt he's made at least a few good suggestions over the years which have paid off for these characters and the fans. Ultimately, though, he's a burden to Marvel in every possible way. The guy is even turning his sights to video game adaptations, meaning The Legend of Zelda will soon get the Uncharted treatment (yikes). 

There's a reason Kevin Feige doesn't appear to have anything good to say about Arad and the fact he was very deliberately excluded from Marvel Studios' Spider-Man movies should tell you all you need to know about how he's regarded by his peers. With the right creatives, Sony can deliver excellent Marvel movies; with Arad sticking around, we can expect his continued contribution to "superhero fatigue" to play out unabated with bad movie after bad movie...all while ruining the characters fans love. 

Ari, we're sure Stan Lee said some nice things to you once but, c'mon, it's time to retire before you confine more of the beloved heroes and villains he helped create to the same cinematic purgatory as Morbius. 

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ImBatman4realz
ImBatman4realz - 11/16/2023, 9:10 AM
Hahaha, @JoshWilding’s post-icle got deleted. No wonder why with this one.

What an atrocious attempt at trolling, all because he tends to think his opinions matter this much.
Origame
Origame - 11/16/2023, 10:32 AM
@ImBatman4realz - best part is I called him out on his last article for telling people to "be more positive" on articles pertaining to the marvels but is just being hilariously negative towards madame web. Now he's doubling and tripling down by saying the only hope for the entire future of the Sony side of things is if avi steps down 🤣

You can't make this sh!t up. I knew he was a hypocrite, but this is just so ridiculously blatant
The1st
The1st - 11/16/2023, 10:52 AM
@ImBatman4realz - Slow news day...also, water is wet.
Vigor
Vigor - 11/16/2023, 11:43 AM
@Origame - to be frank, mcu has garnered goodwill to allow them grace. Avi has not. He's continued to dilute the brand and genre.

For a real-life example, take two parents. Dad has been an excellent dad to little Tommy but due to work commitments taking away his focus, he missed 2 or 3 baseball games. Tommy is mad at daddy
Yet mommy has missed all of the baseball games for no good reason. In this example, dad is MCU, and mom is Avi.

Which of those two if you were Tommy, should you objectively be mad at?
Origame
Origame - 11/16/2023, 11:51 AM
@Vigor - ...so being instrumental in the raimi trilogy, founding marvel studios, getting iron man and the incredible hulk financed, and literally being the guy who hired Kevin feige as the second in command hasn't garnered any good will?

What about being a producer on the 90s spiderman cartoon and spectacular spiderman? Two shows that have been instrumental in literally every adaptation of the character of Spiderman, including the insomniac games and mcu Spiderman?

And what about the good will lost from the mcu by two dumpster fire phases? This isn't us just not tolerating a few mishaps criticizing marvel studios. This is us losing the good will of the mcu. Just like how the good will of avi is now gone.

And those examples are terrible because mcu and avi Arad are in the same point. Ffs, Sony still doesn't have a bomb as big as the marvels.
Vigor
Vigor - 11/16/2023, 11:52 AM
@Origame - you bring up good points. I didn't know Avi was involved in everything you just laid out. As someone else here said, kudos to him but still... stop making movies. He's not Uwe Boll but he is still diluting the genre
Origame
Origame - 11/16/2023, 12:28 PM
@Vigor - ...so is the mcu now. In fact I'd argue it's even worse because of the overall output they're doing.

At least Sony is just throwing out one terrible film every couple of years. Disney meanwhile if giving us multiple terrible films per year plus tv shows. In fact it's more sh!t that the entirety of the infinity saga.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 11/16/2023, 9:17 AM
What the heck was that?!
marvel72
marvel72 - 11/16/2023, 9:20 AM
Best article ever.
MaxPaint
MaxPaint - 11/16/2023, 10:17 AM
Dear Josh, don't reproduce.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 11/16/2023, 10:19 AM
"Avi Arad might just be the worst thing to ever happen to comic book movies"

Disagree wholeheartedly; while he's definitley churning out shit! he's really the reason behind Comic book movies being a big thing pre MCU. Give him his flowers! but also yeah...he should stop.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 11/16/2023, 10:36 AM
@UniqNo - Also, it seems that this is exactly what Josh is doing to himself.

Not sure if he founded the site, but he was greatly involved in getting it to where it is today....and now seems to be vilified for continuing to spew crap...

This article is kind of poetic when you see it like that. 🤣
Origame
Origame - 11/16/2023, 11:16 AM
@UniqNo - he truly is the avi Arad of this site. Making this article even more hilarious.

Someone should write this article again word for word but replacing avi with Josh. Let's see if he notices the similarities or just calls us out for being too negative 🤣
Conquistador
Conquistador - 11/16/2023, 11:20 AM
@Origame - haha exactly!
ImBatman4realz
ImBatman4realz - 11/16/2023, 11:29 AM
@Origame - this is hilarious! Straight up Josh is the worst self-proclaimed “journalist” ever 😂

That’s saying something, because journalism is terrible these days
Origame
Origame - 11/16/2023, 11:34 AM
@ImBatman4realz - I can't believe we have had people on this site defend Josh because "YoU dOn'T cOnTrIbUtE" 🤣
bobevanz
bobevanz - 11/16/2023, 10:22 AM
?si=MIWtza9uoja7VIU8
mpk1988
mpk1988 - 11/16/2023, 10:22 AM
I kinda agree. Old egotists farts like him just scream all sorts of decadence and lack of vision.
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 11/16/2023, 10:26 AM
@mpk1988 - I.E Vince McMahon
DevilsDreams
DevilsDreams - 11/16/2023, 11:33 AM
@HammerLegFoot - "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

I mean he's even got the little villain pencil moustache now!!!
ATrueHero1987
ATrueHero1987 - 11/16/2023, 10:32 AM
@JoshWilding LMAO! Why I get the feeling if you ever see Avi Arad, it will be an "on sight" moment? Lol. I agree though. He did help CBM become big for the modern era. Now though? He needs to sit down some where.
Nomis929
Nomis929 - 11/16/2023, 10:34 AM
Geez, Dude Get a grip on reality.

Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 11/16/2023, 10:39 AM
@JoshWilding - Do you write these things with the sole intention of triggering people and getting clicks or do you actually think you're writing some great pieces?
IronMan616
IronMan616 - 11/16/2023, 10:39 AM
As the kids say, Go touch some grass Josh.
Nomis929
Nomis929 - 11/16/2023, 10:43 AM
Gabimaru
Gabimaru - 11/16/2023, 10:44 AM
This is award winning pulitzer prize Josh!
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