About nine months ago, Sony Pictures announced their plans to expand their Spider-Man franchise by announcing dates for two more sequels for the friendly neighborhood web-slinger after ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’. That announcement was followed by official confirmation of Spidey spinoffs featuring notorious villains Venom and the Sinister Six. However, it appears that director Marc Webb won’t be involved in these plans after he completes a trilogy with Peter Parker.
In a fairly in-depth interview with The Daily Beast that covered things like Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Watson getting cut, Felicity Jones’ mysterious character in the next Spider-Man film, and his career in general up to this point, Webb shared that after 2016’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 3’, he will be hanging up his web-shooters and venturing off to move on to other things. After briefly touching on Sony’s Marvel Cinematic Universe and saying that “we’d all love to overlap with other studios” (which is a comment that will likely spark many conversations amongst fans), the filmmaker explained that his final moments with the hero are coming soon:
“I’d like to be involved as a consultant. I’ve already talked to these guys about it, but in terms of directing it, that will close out my tenure. I’ve had so much fun doing it, but after the third movie, it’ll be the time to find something else.”
While Webb has been a great part of the post-Sam Raimi Spider-Man world, it’s very understandable that he’s looking to try something else sooner rather than later. Even though the world has been largely positive when it comes to his vision of the character, bowing out after completing a trilogy is as good of a time as any to walk away.
Are you disappointed that Marc Webb won’t be helming anymore Spider-Man films after his third one? What do you think the director will get into after leaving the Marvel Universe? Would you rather see him take on more indie films like the one that put him on the map, ‘(500) Days of Summer’, or have him take on more big budget mainstream features? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.