# Spider-Man 4 & 5 are a go **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544 "2008-10-18T18:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/21 "2008-10-19T00:28:06Z")
There’s also talk of a Venom spin-off movie. Argh. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/22 "2008-10-19T00:40:04Z")
> [@prodicus](#): > > Venom is a lame character and there is really no way to tell his story without it being lame. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to think of one! There’s no such ting as “lame characters”, there’s just bad writing. Batman is a character beloved by fans, but written by an idiot the reslut was “Batan and Robin”. Kraven used to be a pathetic, silly figure, but DeMateis managed to make him awesome. A real writer could even make a decent movie with Paste Pot Pete and The Stiltman as truly scary, menacing villains. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/23 "2008-10-19T00:51:29Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > (–But he could! He seriously could. Think Max Shreck in _Nosferatu_. Vulture’s a scientist whose breakthrough discovery allows him to absorb the life force of others as an energy vampire, giving him augmented strength as a side effect. At first he only feeds off the patients in geriatric care or intensive care wards, reasoning that their lives are near an end anyway and won’t be missed. So he creates a suit that incorporates wings, allowing him to swiftly reach his victims and escape undetected. This could tie into a subplot involving Aunt May in danger! It all works perfectly! Except I haven’t figured out how to address the feather neck boa. Granted, he’s an old man; maybe it’s purely for insulation. To keep the chill away, you know? Or maybe he has swollen thyroid glands. Okay, I’m still working on it.) The _image_ on the wikipedia entry for The Vulture does not make the idea of a cinematic treatment look completely ridiculous. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/24 "2008-10-19T01:34:59Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > The _image_ on the wikipedia entry for The Vulture does not make the idea of a cinematic treatment look completely ridiculous. > > -FrL- Heck, the Vulture in Spider-man 2099 (and most of the 2099 stuff was dreck but that goes without saying but I say it anyway) was a cannibal. Might be too dark for a Spidey movie though. I agree with you 99%, **Sr.** Most characters are good. There are a few who are irredeemable, though. I thought Topher did well with the crap he was given. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/25 "2008-10-19T02:39:31Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > The _image_ on the wikipedia entry for The Vulture does not make the idea of a cinematic treatment look completely ridiculous. > > -FrL- Oops, “image” was supposed to be a [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Toomes), not italicized. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/26 "2008-10-19T15:14:44Z")
What this franchise needs are some clones. Lots of clones. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/27 "2008-10-19T15:53:35Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > What this franchise needs are some clones. Lots of clones. You mean, like a clone army? Yeah, yeah. I can see that. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/28 "2008-10-19T16:31:50Z")
I’m not a comic book fan, so I have to ask - Spider-Man has been in print for something like 50 years. Are you all trying to say that in that entire time, his writers have only managed to come up with 3 decent villains? What has he been doing all these years? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/29 "2008-10-19T16:43:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Spider-Man has been in print for something like 50 years. Are you all trying to say that in that entire time, his writers have only managed to come up with 3 decent villains? He’s got a few more than that. Morbius could be OK (but might feel too much like Spider-Man vs Blade) and Mysterio could be turned into a good movie villain, but after that you’re looking at distinct 2nd stringers. The Lizard couldn’t carry a whole movie by himself and Man-Wolf is just lame. A good movie could have easily been made out of Spider-Man vs Venom, but they wasted that for Spidey 3. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/30 "2008-10-19T16:47:42Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m not a comic book fan, so I have to ask - > > Spider-Man has been in print for something like 50 years. Are you all trying to say that in that entire time, his writers have only managed to come up with 3 decent villains? > > What has he been doing all these years? Whining. And adding heroin to his webstuff so the same damn villains get addicted to it and keep coming after him. He’s also got the Shocker (whose name alone ensures that he will never be in a movie) Molten Man (my personal favorite, but name’s too clunky and he’s too unknown) and Hydro-Man. Yeah, most of his bad guys do suck.[Lookit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Spider-Man_enemies). ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/31 "2008-10-19T16:48:43Z")
Movie Spidey doesn’t HAVE to fight his established comic book villians. He could fight other Marvel villians. Or the film writers could develop original adversaries better suited to film for him to do battle. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/32 "2008-10-19T17:35:24Z")
Bah. Break out the symbiote and let someone else get a chance at Venom. That character has a load of different incarnations, many of which were fairly intelligent and outright Hannibal Lecter-ish. He also is one of the few that has come damn close to offing Spidey on several occasions. There is a great movie to be made there, since the SM movies are little but eye-candy anyway. Nearly all the villains in the existing movies have gotten punked out hard IMHO. The Lizard could be great, if he’s written well. Tone down the out of control monster aspect and dial up Conner’s personality. More jekyll and hyde than man and beast. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/33 "2008-10-19T18:05:53Z")
I think it’d be kind of cool for Spidey to get involved in a gang war between the Kingpin’s goons and those of Hammerhead, Tombstone, and others have already mentioned Kraven, Rhino, etc. There’s plenty of good villains to use. What about Chameleon? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/34 "2008-10-19T18:46:15Z")
I know he’s been used but Kingpin, baby, Kingpin. It sets up that great wisecracking dynamic. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/35 "2008-10-19T19:09:19Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Oops, “image” was supposed to be a [link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Toomes), not italicized. > > -FrL- I like the way the clipped-off speech balloon at the top of the image makes it look like the Vulture’s announcing himself. “It is I! **The Vulture** ” I think all comic book characters on Wikipedia should be depicted announcing themselves like that. For those who feel that Spider-Man 3 was a wasted opportunity, I have devised the perfect solution: suddenly, the Devil appears and rewrites history so the entire movie never happened! ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544/36 "2008-10-19T20:04:02Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > For those who feel that Spider-Man 3 was a wasted opportunity, I have devised the perfect solution: suddenly, the Devil appears and rewrites history so the entire movie never happened! Is your IRL name ‘Joe’, by any chance? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-4-5-are-a-go/468544.md?page=1)