It’s very simple: Sam Raimi said he can’t possibly make the May 2011 release date for Spider-Man 4 and the film actually be any good (and considering the mess of Spidey 3, I say cudos to him for recognizing that) so Sony has pulled the plug on the project and are very hurredly trying to make a reboot happen by 2012, as reported by Deadline Hollywood.

Here’s my two cents. I wasn’t ready for another Spider-Man movie, especially because it would have meant I’d have to take the third as a serious set-up for this one, but I would have rather had another installment in that continuity than a reboot this fast. Word is, it’s likely to take Spider-Man back to high school. Really? Does that mean it’s going to start ALL over? Please not the origin again… we all know Spider-Man’s origin. It ain’t that complicated.

The only way I can see this working… maybe… is to make Ultimate Spider-Man the movie. That’s at least some fresh soure material that takes Spidey back to high school but could be different enough from the other movies to feel new. Again, that’s a big maybe.

Audiences won’t do the research us uber-fans do. You’ll have a lot of people go into a reboot barely seeing a trailer, just knowing it’s Spider-Man– that’ll be enough for some parents with kids who love superheroes– and they’ll be completely lost because they expected more of what came before. Sam Raimi leaving, of course, means everyone else is gone too. It’ll be a reboot in every sense of the word, and it’s way too early. And if Sony insists on a 2012 release date, which is what it sounds like they’re doing, it’ll be too rushed. Why do it all over this soon if you can’t do it better? I’m not sure any director can do Spider-Man better than it was done the first time, and especially if they’re rushed.

Whatever happens, I think this move will crush the film franchise. Sony thinks they can make a killing on whatever they slap the word Spider-Man on, but history generally proves that isn’t the case. 3 did huge numbers because 2 was so critically acclaimed and well-loved by most. Usually, as was the case with Star Trek: Nemesis, the next film is at a huge disadvantage if the one before it was ultimately hailed as a bad movie by critics and by fans, no matter how well it did at the box office. The general consensus is that Spider-Man 3 was a complete misfire, as much if not moreso than X-Men 3. Which means that the next one is going to have a hard time at the box office. Sam Raimi is still well-respected and I think a lot of people would have given him a pass and figured he’d learn from his mistakes on 3. But a reboot? Maybe if they gave it five or six more years. Worked for Batman.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

See the trailer here.

It was announced at Spike’s VGAs, in an extremely theatrical way I might add, that a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum is coming, and they already had a trailer! I know stuff comes out fast these days, but wow. The game will probably be released sometime in the latter half of 2010. I have to assume the same voice actors are being used (at least for the major characters) since Mark Hamil’s is in the trailer.

I’ve only started to play the first and it really is as amazing as everyone says, but I guess I’m a little disappointed that the second will also be Arkham Asylum. The big deal for this game apparently is that the asylum has “moved,” so it technically won’t be the same location, but I’d like to see the same kind of story-telling (some of the most fluid I’ve seen in a game) and gameplay used in a sequel that branches out into other parts of Gotham.

I also hope they don’t rush ahead so fast that it’s a vastly inferior game. We don’t need a bunch of Batman Arkham Asylums, what we need is other superhero games that take their cues from that game.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan