4. Spider-Man
Release Date: July 7, 2017 When it comes to the popularity of Marvel characters, Spider-Man has long been to the company what Batman has been to DC. While 1998s Blade and 2000s X-Men paved the way for the resurgence of comic book films after 1997s Batman & Robin nearly destroyed their viability in the eyes of many studios, it wasnt until 2002s Spider-Man arrived to massive success that the floodgates were well and truly blown open, setting audiences the world over off on the long road to where we are today. When Marvel Studios launched the MCU back in 2008, they didnt have the benefit of having the character or their other heavy hitters, the X-Men, for that matter on their side, forcing them to turn to characters like Iron Man and Captain America to lead the charge. As the world has seen, it all paid off, with the MCUs characters becoming household names overnight while Sony only ran their cinematic ownership of the webslinger into the ground after a string of less-than-beloved films. With the announcement that Sony and Marvel Studios were teaming up to bring Spider-Man into the MCU, many fans rejoiced at what seemed like the impossible being made reality, and now here we are, just a few months away from the character's introduction in Civil War ahead of his own solo film next year. After three films in a row of poor decision-making with the character, the latest Spider-Man can finally be done justice by Marvel, who owe a lot to the character, recognize his popularity, and arent afraid to shy away from everything fans have always loved about him. Some may think its too soon for another reboot of the character, but in reality its about time for the ol web-head - and all his allies and enemies - to finally get the treatment he deserves.
Geoff Cox
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Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!
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