Of course, for Sony to let the rights go they have to sit for five years not touching a property they could make some money on, which is a pretty big ask. Either at some point during that process, or as a misguided way to avoid it, we wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we got another reboot of the character. We know, we know, it'd be a horribly disastrous outcome, but as perfect as the ideas of a crossover or letting the rights run out are, this is probably where we'll see ourselves in a decade or less. As much as apathy grows and profits drop (the domestic takings for the franchise have decreased with each new release), there'll be a drive to turn this into a big deal again; Marvel made Iron Man, that B-list hero with a dumb name, into one of the biggest superheroes out there, which means there's a chance Spidey could have an equal resurgence. It's as doomed to failure as it is inevitable. The problem with all this is that we live in a culture that has an unbelievably nostalgic bent. We look back fondly at old movies and use them as prototypes for the present; ever notice that many of the films getting remade are invariably ones released exactly twenty-five years before (seriously, look into it, it's f**king crazy). And because Hollywood clings to a franchise model it transfers this to putting stock in any existing property. That's how we end up with Green Hornets and Lone Rangers and John Carters decades after they were relevant and why, even though just asking a few people on the street would tell you otherwise, studios hold to this idea that the likes of Spider-Man and Superman are still the biggest and best superheroes. They were groundbreaking, both in terms of comics and cinema, yes, but in a modern landscape they're legacy heroes struggling against the more interesting big hitters. Let Spider-Man lie and bring him back in ten years time when a whole new young generation can experience him for the first time. What do you think the future of Spider-Man holds? And what do you make of all this discussion about his potential Avengers team-up? Swing down to the comments and discuss all things Spidey.
