It'll be interesting to see what effect a relatively poor OW, and in turn domestic run, does to Sony's plans for Venom and a Sinister Six movie. I think Sony's locked into them and may be at the point where they can't turn back, but doing so might be the death knell to the ASM franchise. If ASM2 underperforms, how do you think Venom and Sinister Six will do? Venom's popularity peaked in the 90s, and they're basically bypassing the entire Symbiote Spidey arc. The Sinister Six is such a questionable property to make when it isn't going to feature Spider-Man. The Sinister Six was created with the sole purpose of killing Spider-Man. They do not have the type of storytelling flexibility as say the Thunderbolts or the Secret Six, where there are multiple stories to be told because their villainous goals aren't as one note. I know there were rumors that maybe Black Cat would be a member and would turn good throughout the movie and end up stopping their plans from the inside, which is a decent idea, but now it doesn't look like she's one of the six. None of the rumored members are characters who have had redemptive arcs and look like characters who you can root for (i.e. Sandman or Black Cat). I just don't see people turning out for a movie about six villains planning to kill Spider-Man.
I think Sony are now going to realize just how boxed in they are with just having Spider-Man as a property. They're trying to expand the universe, mimicking Marvel and DC, but there really isn't much expanding they can do. Fox has the benefit of the X-Men being a universe within a universe. Even with Goddard at the helm I just don't see Sinister Six or Venom for that matter being the successes that Sony thinks they'll be.
If one good thing comes of this it'll be that Arad gets his foot put in his mouth and shoved down his throat.
I think very few care about my predictions.
