Today, the guys over at Ain't It Cool News today have gotten word on a possible delay for The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Even though The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been a financial success it wasn't loved by many fans for its over saturation of the Spider-Man universe. A lot like what happened with Iron Man 2.

Now according to their sources it seems that Sony may hold off on the sequel:

 “What does [Warner Bros' plan] mean for Marvel Studios? Fuck all, really. DC has to prove they can compete before Marvel makes any changes to their schedule. As for the Marvel orphans at Fox and Sony, I don’t know much about the latter, but I have been told that THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3 has been moved to an undetermined date in 2017. Time for a second reboot?”

Now that doesn't mean one of the Spider-Man spin-off movies may take its place in 2016. Those include Venom and The Sinister Six. 

Until, something official comes out take with a grain of salt....

"Look out here comes... The Sinister Six?" Sadly that little jingle is not as catchy as the classic Spider-Man theme, but in a surprise move by Sony Pictures, it appears we will be receiving a Venom and Sinister Six film within the coming years. This surprise move comes from an official press release, released via the viral site ElectroArrives. Revealing that Star Trek duo, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman will 'godfather' Sony's Spider-Man franchise, the press release states that Drew Goddard (currently working on the upcoming Daredevil show on Netflix) will write The Sinister Six and could possibly direct the film. Another interesting detail revealed is that Alex Kurtzman will possibly direct the Venom film, a film everyone thought Chronicle director, Josh Trank, would end up directing. The press release also reveals that production on The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will begin next fall, with Marc Webb inline to direct, once more. You can check out the press release below!

CULVER CITY, Calif., December 12, 2013 – In a move to forge a new legacy in the story of Peter Parker on screen, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in association with Marvel Entertainment, is developing several new projects in the Spider-Man franchise, with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to collaborate on overseeing the developing story over several films that will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, and Hannah Minghella, president of Production for the studio.

The five writers, along with the two producers and Marc Webb, have formed a franchise brain trust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread throughout the films. Under the deals, the studio announced that Kurtzman & Orci & Pinkner are writing the screenplay for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which the studio hopes Webb will return to direct; the film will go into production next fall for release on June 10, 2016. In addition, the team will build on the cinematic foundation laid by Webb, Arad, and Tolmach in the first two movies. They will expand the franchise as Kurtzman & Orci & Solomon will write the screenplay for Venom, which Kurtzman will direct; also, Goddard will write, with an eye to direct, The Sinister Six, focusing on the villains in the franchise. Hannah Minghella and Rachel O’Connor will oversee the development and production of these films for the studio. In tapping these five writers, the studio and the producers are guiding the future of the franchise with the writer/producers who have each played significant and key roles in developing such highly successful franchises, films, and series as Star Trek, Transformers, “Alias,” “Fringe,” Men in Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, World War Z, “Lost,” Cloverfield, The Cabin in the Woods, and Marvel’s upcoming “Daredevil” series.

Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, “The Spider-Man film franchise is one of our studio’s greatest assets. We are thrilled with the creative team we have assembled to delve more deeply into the world that Marc, Avi and Matt have begun to explore in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We believe that Marc, Alex, and Drew have uniquely exciting visions for how to expand the Spider-Man universe in each of these upcoming films.”

Arad and Tolmach added, “This collaboration was born out of the great experience we and Marc had working with Alex, Bob, and Jeff on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With more than fifty years’ wealth of stories in the comic books to draw upon for inspiration, the Spider-Man universe is truly boundless; in addition, the Spider-Man comics have the greatest rogues gallery of any series, and to have the chance to explore that on film is truly thrilling. Until now, we have approached each film as a separate, self-contained entity, but with this move, we have the opportunity to grow the franchise by looking to the future as we develop a continuous arc for the story. That is what Alex, Bob, Jeff, Ed, and Drew will do in this unprecedented collaboration, and we’re excited about the directions they are taking the character and the world.”

The most successful franchise in the history of Columbia Pictures, Spider-Man is embraced all over the world. The four Spider-Man films to date have taken in over $3.2 billion worldwide. Spider-Man, Venom, The Sinister Six and other Spider-Man related characters are licensed to Sony by Marvel Entertainment. 

Earlier this year, Sony Pictures went ahead to confirm the release dates of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (May 2016) and (surprisingly)The Amazing Spider-Man 4 (May 2018) with Andrew Garfield to star as the title character. Today, Garfield goes on the record to say that he is NOT involved with the upcoming fourth installment.

 "I mean I’m under contract for another one after this… as far as a fourth one? That's not anything to do with me," he told Yahoo!. "But yeah, I think what we’re doing here is we've established the world. And now we get to really play inside that world." “Use our imagination, and kind of expand. That’s what this film is.”

 Garfield goes on to talk about how they expanded the second film from the first on reintroducing the character.

"I think there was something missing in the first one because our focus wasn't on character as much we were trying to keep a number of plates spinning in the air – How can we reintroduce the character? How do we not upset this guy or this guy? That was a tough wasteland we had to move through. Now we could say, 'who is this guy?' How can we best serve Spider-Man?'"

Image Credit: Boston Globe

Parks & Recreation is one of the best shows on telly since The Inbetweeners ended. Star, Nick Offerman, has been a fan favourite for quite a number of comic book movie roles and earlier today Offerman revealed that he had auditioned for the role of 'Logan/Wolverine' in 2000's X-Men. The role that of course went to Hugh Jackman, was almost Ron F***ing Swanson's, imagine that... Awesome. On the audition Offerman said "You know actually, I auditioned for Wolverine when Bryan Singer made the first X-Men movie. I went on tape reading for that role. I always felt when I was younger, I could have taken a good crack at Wolverine." Despite this dream not coming true, Offerman reveals that he has another comic book movie role he'd like to give a shot, and with a reboot set to hit theatres in 2015, this dream could become a reality. The role I am talking about is of course Wonder Woman... Wait, no, it's actually The Thing from The Fantastic Four. Offerman is apparently a huge fan of The Thing saying "But I’ve always gravitated toward Ben Grimm, The Thing of the Fantastic Four. The most great superheroes I think too highly of to dishonour them by casting myself in their shoes. I tend to prefer the more modern teams of misfits." 

While I personally feel Nick 'Swanson' Offerman should be cast as J.J Jameson in The Amazing Sider-Man 3, I would not complain if Offerman was cast as Ben Grimm/The Thing... Heck, cast Offerman as everyone, you need a Venom? Offerman, you need a new Ghost Rider? Offerman, you need a new Howard The Duck? Nick Offerman. Anyway, you can check out the full interview over at Newsarama. You can catch Nick Offerman on Parks & Recreation only on NBC.