After 28 years of owning the rights to Spider-Man it looks like Sony are finally kick starting their Spider-Man Cinematic Universe. Where will it go, what's going to happen? I'll get to that, first though, lets get a little back-story going!
Prologue
Way back when the A-Team was still on TV and Back to the Future was still only a toddler Sony bought up one of films most lucrative rights; One of the most iconic comic book characters in history and loved by fanboys and new comers alike, Sony's swoop in 1985 might have been one of their smartest moves in years.
Then, in 2002, Sony struck gold with Sam Rami's first Spider-Man film. Fans loved it and a successful trilogy followed (regardless of falling flat near the end). But while Sony were reaping the rewards of the trilogy, Marvel Studios were slowly but surely building something epic, the Comic Book Cinematic Universe, and so the battle began. Sony needed something quick and so came
The Amazing Spider-Man, a fair-ish attempt at a CBM, being followed by 2014's sequel.
And that brings us up to...
Now
In 6 months time The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro will give us a better picture of what's to come in Spidey's future but right now one thing is agreeable, the Sinister Six are on their way. Marvel have Thanos, Fox have Apocalypse and Sony, well, Sony have the Sinister Six (slightly anti-climactic).
But don't go thinking the Sinister Six are a push over! They aren't universe destroyers or race removers but they can pack a punch. They even proved to hot to handle for Peter in a certain universe, the Ultimate universe...
The Death of Peter Parker?
Last year Peter Parker's run as Spider-Man in Marvel's Ultimate universe came to an end at the hands of the Sinister Six. The Amazing Spider-Man is extremely similar to Ultimate Spider-Man in more ways than one.
Peter is more aggressive
Suit Designs
Andrew Garfield shares character traits with Ultimate Peter rather than 616 Peter
Villain's origins
This along side the fact that Andrew Garfield has said that he has no involvement in The Amazing Spider-Man 4 (After the rumored Sinister 6 in the third installment)
SOURCE. Are Sony preparing to have Peter make the
Ultimate sacrifice in The Amazing Spider-Man 3? Peter's mantle was later taken up by the Hispanic New Yorker Miles Morales. Donald Glover publicly appealed to Sony to have Miles lead The Amazing Spider-Man, are Sony listening?
Journey Through The Multiverse?
You probably won't be surprised to hear that Miles isn't the only other alternate to Peter Parker. Over the years Marvel have brought us various One Shots featuring the likes of 2099 Spider-Man and Noir Spider-Man. Could the science based roots of The Amazing Spider-Man end up tearing the barriers between universes down and give us a sci-fi Spidey?
Future web head, AKA Miguel O'Hara, is a geneticist living in New York in, you guessed it, 2099! (More info on his origin
HERE) O'Hara even has future versions of fan favorite villains such as a female Doc Ock, a terrifying Green Goblin and Venom.
What About Looking Closer To Home?
But wait! There's more! You didn't think that was all the Spider-Men about did you? These two don't even require Peter to die... (Well, sort of).
Who are they you ask? Peter Parker's imperfect clones, Kaine and Ben!
Back in the 90s Marvel was on a run of pumping out new Spider-People. We had Spider-Woman, 2099 Spider-Man and then came Kaine, the first failed attempt at cloning Peter Parker. (More info
HERE)
Soon followed Ben Reilly, aka The Scarlet Spider. After Kaine had failed Ben was the second attempt, Spoiler Alert: He failed too. (More info
HERE)
Using OsCorp's fascination with Peter as an excuse to clone him could easily bring in yet another branch for Sony to take.
But there is one more, one some may even say is...
Superior?
Superiority?
The final path to travel would be Marvel's most recent (and controversial) story line. In this a dying Doc Ock traps Peter and switches the two's conciseness, leaving Otto Octavius as the man behind the mask.
If it works, everything's fine. If not the old comic book ret-con can have Peter back for outing number 5.
Finishing Off
At the end of the day, take what you will from this editorial, it's nothing more than a fan who loves to fantasize. Sony seem to have finally gotten a grip on their Cinematic Universe and with no shortage of comic book movies in the next 5 years, let's just relax. At least we know one thing, it will definitely be Amazing.