It might seem like a "Duh" of a news story, but it was not a sure thing. Marc Webb has been confirmed as the director of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the successful reboot of Sony's aborted but still-recent Sam Raimi franchise, after reports that a contractual obligation to Fox – requiring Webb to make a second film for the studio after the romantic drama (500) Days of Summer – was potentially preventing him from returning to the series.
That issue now appears to have been settled, or at least pushed back to a later date, according to a press release from Sony (via Coming Soon) annoncing Webb's return, along with his star, Andrew Garfield, who will return in the lead role of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. Curiously enough his co-star, Emma Stone, is merely "in talks" to return for the second movie in the franchise, implying that sequels were not a part of her original contract, which seems nearsighted in the world of nearly unlimited franchise possibilities.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which we really hope will be called The Spectacular Spider-Man or Web of Spider-Man instead (the second title would make more sense given the new franchise's focus on conspiracy theories), will be written by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Transformers), working from an earlier draft by Jeff Pinkner. All three writers are producers on the Fox series "Fringe."
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, or whatever it will be called, is set to begin production in early 2013 and be released in theaters on May 2, 2014. So expect news from the sequel to start coming fast and furious, with casting rumors and fan speculation about the new villain(s) before you can say "Thwipp."
CraveOnline will be back with more Amazing Spider-Man 2 news, because our Spidey sense is tingling.
