Plenty of major comic book blockbusters have suffered from adding too many unnecessary characters and subplots into the mix, with Sony’s previous two Spider-Man franchises among the worst offenders. Sam Raimi’s third installment didn’t need Harry Osborn to take up his father’s mantle as the Green Goblin, and it definitely didn’t need Topher Grace’s Venom, either, with the director ultimately being forced to include the symbiote storyline thanks to the studio.
Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, meanwhile, was essentially a two-hour teaser trailer for an expanded universe that didn’t even get off the ground, with Sony’s desire to look several movies ahead at the expense of the story being told killing the series altogether. And when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, well, the franchise didn’t become the biggest game in town by repeating the mistakes made by others, so Kevin Feige and his team are no doubt fully aware that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 3 needs to avoid those pitfalls.
Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, Emma Stone, Kirsten Dunst and Alfred Molina have all reportedly been added to the cast over the last few days, but tipster Mikey Sutton now claims that Jon Watts’ threequel will still be anchored by the relationship between Peter Parker and Zendaya’s MJ, which is the smartest decision they could make.
According to the insider, the multiple villains of Spider-Man 3 will come after MJ to try and exploit Peter’s most obvious weakness, while she grapples with the dangers of dating a superhero. There are going to be an awful lot of moving pieces involved to tell a story spanning three generations of Spideys and trips across the multiverse, but grounding the plot in human drama is the best way to ensure it doesn’t devolve into mindless spectacle.
