8 Signs We're Reaching Saturation Point With Superhero Movies

8. The Lacklustre Response To The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Remember the buzz surrounding the release of Spider-Man 2? Sam Raimi's take on Doc Ock and a bigger, bolder, more intelligent follow up to his first film made it the superhero sequel to beat. Some might argue that only The Dark Knight was able to take that crown. Fast forward just ten short years and the first Spidey sequel of Marc Webb's series just didn't garner the same admiration. Was it because it was an inferior film? There is no arguing that structurally Spider-Man 2 was Raimi's best and was bolstered by Alfred Molina's ability to transform a rather hokey villain into a tragic anti-hero. But the Amazing Spider-Man 2 had the ingredients of an (pardon the pun) amazing Spider-Man film. Andrew Garfield continued to give us the definitive take on Peter Parker. The overall cast was stronger. Garfield and Emma Stone lit up the screen with the romance between Peter and Gwen Stacey looking a million times better than Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's Peter and Mary Jane. There were some fantastic set pieces, new mysteries and it had that ending we had all been dreading but waiting for at the same time. So why the lacklustre reponse? Was it the 113,599,453 trailers that gave away most of the film? Perhaps. Or was it the fact that it was sandwiched in between the much praised Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the eagerly anticipated X Men: Days Of Future Past? Back in 2004, the only superhero competition Spider-Man 2 had was Hellboy and The Punisher, neither as well known to the general public as the web-slinging hero. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 wasn't amazing, but it was a great Spider-Man film which brought fun, action, romance and humour in equal measure. Perhaps if it hadn't been caught between those other two titans, it may have fared better.