10 'What If?' Scenarios That Almost Changed Comic Book Movies Forever

Sony virtually admitted that they had no idea what to do with one of their most bankable characters when they struck an unprecedented deal to let Spider-Man feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tom Holland's version of the character now has his own solo blockbuster in the bag as well as being marketed as a key Avenger going forward, but none of this would have happened had The Amazing Spider-Man franchise continued as planned.

Marc Webb's two efforts may have earned $757.9m and $709m respectively, but Andrew Garfield's stint in the spandex is viewed as a disappointment. Too eager to build a bigger universe at the expense of making a decent movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 nearly buckled under the weight of its own overstuffed narrative and brought Sony's ambitious expansion plans to an abrupt end.

Not only did The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 have release dates locked in for 2016 and 2018, but the studio had also assembled creative teams for spin-offs based around the Sinister Six, Venom and Black Cat to create a Spider-Man cinematic universe, using the web-slinger's popularity in an attempt to play Marvel Studios at their own game.

However unlikely it is that Sony could have actually pulled this off, it remains fascinating to think that instead of spending this summer watching Spider-Man: Homecoming, we could have been seeing Andrew Garfield show up to take on Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti and whoever else in Drew Goddard's Sinister Six.