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…

Sony Pictures’ long-term plans for its blockbuster Spider-Man franchise have been getting bigger with each week that brings us a new image, trailer, or poster for their upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Last week alone we were treated to a new banner poster and first trailer that revealed Marvel Comics’ classic arachnid-powered superhero (Andrew Garfield) would be taking on at least three new villains in Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Rhino (Paul Giamatti), and most unexpectedly Spidey’s old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) suiting up as either the Green Goblin or a Goblin-like baddie of some variation. Early reports indicated that the events of Amazing Spider-Man 2 would be setting up the first appearance of the super-villain collective the Sinister Six in a future sequel.

Joe Lynch, director of Wrong Turn 2 and the upcoming Knights of Badassdom, has made an interesting fan film based on the infamous Marvel villain, Venom, that premiered recently at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. In the short, True Blood star Ryan Kwanten plays an intrepid, ethically-challenged New York crime reporter who goes about his daily life while being trailed by a French documentary crew in Truth in Journalism.

You can watch the full 17-minute video here below. I’m going to discuss the short in spoiler-laden detail below the embed.

Production on the tentatively titled The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is proceeding at full speed with casting updates emerging on a weekly basis. We know that Jamie Foxx and Paul Giamatti will be playing the new villains Electro and the Rhino, respectively, and Shailene Woodley of The Descendants is the Mary Jane Watson of the rebooted franchise. Now there is the distinct possibility that the movie might be gaining a third villain, or at least the seeds are being planted for this particular adversary to take center stage should a third movie get the green light.

Director Marc Webb tweeted a teaser picture on Wednesday on the occasion of the birthday of actor Dane DeHaan, who is playing Harry Osborn, the troubled best friend of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield). The picture appears to be of a locker used in the movie, and die hard fans of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics will probably recognize the number on the locker door: 14.

If you told me four years ago that a movie like The Avengers would be made, I would have laughed in your face. To create a film based on a team like that would require a lot of time and would need major financing. So instead of just making a straight-up film based on The Avengers, Marvel went forward with focusing on the individuals who make up The Avengers, eventually leading up to the team-up.

Warner tried to go with just with a straight-up film based on the Justice League, but with problems with financing and the writer’s strike, the film was put on hold for a couple of years. Seeing the successful formula that Marvel has created, WB might want to replicate that with Batman entering a reboot phase after The Dark Knight Rises.