Sony Announces THE SINISTER SIX,VENOM Films

When Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal hinted that the studio was looking to expand its Spider-Man franchise, I thought that it was a long-term plan. Not so.

Sony has announced its first two films to come out of this expansion. The Sinister Six will be written by Drew Goddard with Goddard possibly directing the film as well. Venom will be written by Alex Kurtzman, Bob Orci and Ed Solomon with Kutzman directing. Also, Kurtzman and Orci will be joining their The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writing partner Jeff Pinkner on the script for The Amazing Spider-Man 3. All films will be in the same continuity as, and continue the story started in The Amazing Spider-Man.

Eh. What to say.

The fact that there’s a Venom movie in the mix should surprise no one. Sony has been chomping at the bit to make one since the Raimi years. And he was a popular character from the comic books…in 1996. The character has gone through many different incarnations since its heyday, and the character’s most recent series was cancelled, leaving him to guest star in team books. But,hey, maybe producers could capture that magic from 20 years ago. However, having him in his set alone film does clear up trying to shoehorn him into the franchise.

As for The Sinister Six, well, the concept only really worked when they had Spider-Man to play off of. And Andrew Garfield might not be around to fight them in their own film. And if we don’t have the whole “we couldn’t  defeat Spider-man on our own so let’s team up to really put the works to him” thing, we are just watching a film of six bad guys doing bad things. Not a big selling point.

There are talented people involved in these films, so maybe they can make the concepts work.