The writing is on the wall: Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst won’t be back for Spider-Man 5. Sony has brought in screenwriter James Vanderbilt to write Spider-Man 5 and 6. Vanderbilt’s credits include Darkness Falls, Zodiac, The Rundown and a first draft of Spider-Man 4. Apparently, Raimi didn’t like the script and has brought in David Lindsay-Abaire and then Gary Ross to do rewrites. The interwebs are running rampant with rumors of a reboot for the franchise after the fourth movie and Sony has only fueled the flames by bringing in Vanderbilt to write a two part story for Spider-Man 5 and 6. Sony is also getting peeved that it’s taking progressively longer between films as their license for Spider-Man isn’t forever. In my opinion, a reboot wouldn’t be a bad thing. I never liked Maguire or Dunst and I think that Raimi is over-rated as a director. The Spider-Man franchise has done well for the same reason as the X-Men Origins: Wolverine made money: it’s frickin’ Spider-Man! A monkey could direct and it would make money! Let’s bring in someone who can actually play Peter Parker and someone who looks like Mary Jane Watson. This is a rich universe that has been turned into a “art house” franchise. Take a page from Marvel Studios and get it right…

Let me know your opinions.