From a marketing perspective, some of the biggest buzz around Civil War is that it will be Spider-Man's introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is no question that for years, Spider-Man was the flagship character of the Marvel Universe. There is a reason he appeared on nearly every piece of Marvel merchandise in the 80's and 90's. There is also a reason that after the original trilogy of films, it was rebooted... and is being rebooted yet again... a mere three years after The Amazing Spider-Man 2. There were undoubtedly mistakes made in the making of Spider-Man 3 (Dancing Peter?) and the rehashed Amazing Spider-Man all but killed its sequel before a single frame was shot. How much faith can the viewing public really put in another iteration? Marvel's spidey sense is a bit off if they expect the appearance of an unknown web-slinger to take Cap 3 to the next level. With all the now-public Sony information around Spider-Man film rights, it's clear that Marvel still feels they can hang a pretty huge hat on Spidey's hook. In addition, how much Spider-Man will we actually see in the movie? For being such a major player in the Civil War comics, giving this new Spidey the equitable amount of screen time would turn the movie into "Iron Man v. Captain America v. Spider-Man: Dawn of...oh, forget it." If a big Spider-Man resurgence is expected, then a bit part in an overblown Captain America movie risks a huge loss of potential for the character. While this misuse of Spider-Man may not hit Marvel's bottom line too hard on Civil War, it will cost them in the long run. After five Sony-produced Spider-Man movies, Marvel/Disney will have to up the "wow" factor (as well as budget), to truly re-create the franchise. Unless Civil War does an amazing (pun fully intended) job with Spidey, the current trend is likely to continue, and the Phase 3 Spidey film could be the death knell of the once promising series. Are you confident in Civil War's pulling appeal? Share your own thoughts below in the comments thread.
George is a life-long fan of genre, wrestling and guitars. He is an actor, writer, CrossFit trainer and former WWE storyline writer. He currently works as talent development for PWX wrestling and resides in the birthplace of the zombie movie, Pittsburgh, PA.
