Sony’s Spider-Man reboot is proving to be more damaging that profitable. From a domestic standpoint, the Spider-Man films, both franchises, have produced consecutive diminishing returns with The Amazing Spider-Man franchise producing lower than $300 million. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 grossed only $202 million domestically versus Sam Raimi’s $403 million. Despite that, the studio is staying strong to their convictions, and is staying the course with their cinematic universe for the franchise character by releasing a Sinister Six movie in 2016, The Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2018, and a female character spinoff in the near future.

Whether or not these films will help reestablish Spider-Man as a lucrative film franchise remains to be seen, but the first two films since the reboot does not bode well for the franchise’s future, and now Andrew Garfield has a response to why The Amazing Spider-Man 2 performed so poorly at the box office. Hit the jump to see what he said.

The Sinister Six will always be a constant threat to Spider-Man. Though the roster has changed throughout history, even once doubling to 12, Spidey’s greatest villains will unite the one signal purpose of taking out the webslinger. So when Sony announced that their Spider-Man Cinematic Universe would release a Sinister Six movie written and directed by Drew Goddard in 2018, fans got excited. Of course this meant that the films would need to build up to that one film, and it made plenty of sense that a Sinister Six film would be released after The Amazing Spider-Man 3.

But then came The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s disappointing box office numbers, which was then followed by Sony pushing The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s release date from June 10, 2016 to 2018. The studio then rescheduled the Sinister Six film from 2018 to 2016. Of course an entire film focused on the Sinister Six, that only has a few possible members on their roster that we have seen and another two confirmed outside of the film, would mean that Spider-Man would have to be involved in some sort of capacity. But Andrew Garfield doesn’t seem to think that’s happening. Hit the jump to see what he had to say about his possible lack of involvement.

A year ago Sony Pictures Entertainment had such high hopes for their rebooted Spider-Man franchise. Production on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was moving forth without a hitch and early footage from the blockbuster sequel screened at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con to an enthusiastic response. Back in December the studio was so certain that it was going to be the biggest movie of this summer, if not 2014, that they announced plans to exploit their ownership of the movie rights to the Spider-Man universe by developing spinoffs that would star Spidey villains Venom and the Sinister Six.

The plan originally was for Amazing Spider-Man 2 screenwriters Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner to collaborate on the Venom feature, while Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard would write and eventually be called upon to direct the Sinister Six movie. Then Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened to withering reviews from critics and less box office than the studio had initially projected. I haven’t seen the second movie in the rebooted series yet but the consensus is that the gluttony of villains, lack of attention paid to the main characters, and an anti-climatic ending that was to have paved the way for the spinoffs are what hurt its chances at the box office. A $706 million worldwide haul is hardly anything to sniff, but Sony was hoping that Amazing Spider-Man 2 would top out at a solid billion and change at the very least.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Director: Marc Webb
Screenwriter(s): Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
Columbia Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 142 Minutes
Release Date: May 2, 2014

“His greatest battle begins…”

When Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man in 1962, they introduced something new to the world of comics: the flawed superhero with everyday problems. The insecurities and anxieties of nerdy high school student Peter Parker changed the public’s perception of comic book superheroes – it made them relatable.

When Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man swung onto screens in 2002, it was a massive success and a cultural phenomenon. For its time, Spider-Man was the only film to reach $100 million in its first weekend, had the largest opening weekend gross of all time, and was the most successful film based on a comic book. It was the The New Millennium’s equivalent to Richard Donner’s Superman or Tim Burton’s Batman.

In 2004, Spider-Man 2 grossed $783 million worldwide and received universal acclaim from critics. A decade later, Raimi’s follow-up is still considered one of the best superhero films ever made. 2007’s Spider-Man 3, however, completely ruined Marvel’s most popular (and profitable) superhero series beyond repair. For Sony, the only way to move forward with the Spider-Man franchise was to reboot it.

(I used to love that game.)

Spider-Man has teamed up with the X-Men countless times in the comics and video games and on Saturday morning television. Yet the odds of the two Marvel Comics properties uniting on the silver screen has long seemed unlikely due to different movie studios owning their rights and being heavily reticent to crossovers.

In a somewhat unprecedented move, however, it’s been revealed that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will feature as its post-credits highlight a special preview of X-Men: Days of Future Past.