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 mega-budget web-slingin’ sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was crammed from one end of the 35mm film frame to the other with reimagined villains like Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), and the Rhino (Paul Giamatti). Sony Pictures Entertainment has made crystal clear its intentions to expand their rights to Spider-Man and the various characters in his universe into a cornucopia of spin-offs, including films based on the villains Venom and the Sinister Six.

The studio and director Marc Webb embedded clues in Amazing Spider-Man 2 hinting at the future of the main franchise and its possible side-quels, but the comic book blockbuster’s end credits sequence was originally supposed to include a scene implying that yet another of Spidey’s adversaries could make a return to terrorize the superhero and the people of New York.

SPOILER WARNING…

With the massive marketing that is going into The Amazing Spider-Man 2, one has to ask: is there anything left to see in the theater? The trailers, the clips, the Super Bowl spots, the TV spots, not to mention the viral marketing, makes it feel as though Sony has burned through everything stopping short of showing the entire film.

The third and supposedly final trailer lays down the gauntlet by revealing the three villains that will appear in the film. But before you think being inundated with three villains is going to be Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 all over again, director Marc Webb has said that Rhino (Paul Giamatti) will appear in the film for only a few minutes, and that Max Dillion aka Electro (Jamie Foxx) will be the main villain. The trailer actually does a great job of digging deeper into Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Harry Osborn’s (Dane DeHaan) complex friendship.

Hit the jump to watch the final trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Saving Mr. Banks was destined to be the first Disney film since perhaps Mary Poppins to accrue countless Oscar nominations across a multitude of categories. Unfortunately, the brilliant drama that explores the roots of how Mary Poppins evolved from page to screen failed to score more than one Academy Award nod. Why so?

This Disney In Depth aims to identify why Saving Mr. Banks may not have resonated with certain critics, despite the warranted buzz it received prior to its release. I also share how Banks should have been recognized at the forthcoming 86th Academy Awards.

Earlier this week, Sony Pictures released Part 1 of their Super Bowl ad spot for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Now, the studio has released the second part, which you can watch here below.

Directed by Marc Webb, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Chris Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Felicity Jones, Martin Sheen, and Colm Feore. The film opens in theaters May 2, 2014.