1. Webb Wasn't Hellbent on Returning in the First Place
I'm not convinced that Webb was the trilogy guy Sony was gunning for. He had to return to Fox to fulfill a requirement in contract after
(500), but now, after
The Amazing Spider-Man, he hasn't been too vocal about desperately wanting to return to Peter Parker's story. It was all very up in the air, and I've not found anything that proves Webb fought to come back to the director's chair. Now, there's a lot of pluses that come with Sony's extended contract with him; they know Webb listens to producers and the studio, is manageable, gets good performances from his actors, and the film was by no means a disappointment with audiences and at the box office. I think Sony returning with Marc Webb is their safe plan. But the fact that it took them a bit longer than normal to come to an agreement for his return makes me feel as if the relationship might be a bit rocky, which, as we've seen with
Spider-Man 3 didn't bode well. It's not that Webb feels enslaved to the material, I don't think, I just think that he's probably returning and being asked to return for the sake of completeness. But, as I said before, I don't necessarily see him as a trilogy director. Right now, his range certainly doesn't reflect it, but he's also a director very early in his career. I'm normally pretty on the fence about directors who aren't gung-ho about their projects. There's got to be a passion there.