There are rights issues in the way, but if they can swing it, then it would be a marvellous cameo...

In an interview sure to set the web crawling with speculation, Andrew Garfield, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the highly anticipated reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, said:

"[The Avengers writer-director] Joss Whedon is a genius, and it's an incredible cast. I was very, very jealous, and I wanted to jump on the screen and play with them. It killed me that I wasn't in it, but I understand why, and I'm not insulted. But hey, if Samuel L. Jackson wants to give me a shout, I'm there for the next one."

Andrew Garfield thinks Joss Whedon's a genius, so he's automatically right.

Of course, the reasons why it didn't happen that he's alluding to are to do with rights issues, with Marvel Studios holding the film rights to many Marvel comics characters (hence the Avengers movie getting made), but not all of them. Specifically, Sony Pictures holds the film rights to Spider-Man, and will keep them indefinitely as long as they keep developing movies based on the character, which could well have been one of the reasons for the reboot following on so closely on the heels (do spiders have heels?) of Sam Raimi's trilogy.

Joss Whedon, who's a fan of Spider-Man and Sam Raimi, expressed bemusement at the creative logic behind such a rapid reboot: “Wait, what? Wasn’t that, like a couple of years ago they were still bringing it? I found that incomprehensible.” It's understandable on a commercial level, but one of the reasons why Joss Whedon is so good at what he does is that his motivations are always creative. He writes primarily for love of the stories he's telling and the characters they're about, rather than money. Perhaps that's one of the things that audiences are responding to so much about The Avengers: it comes from the perspective of a geek; a true fan who's loved these characters (both individually and as a team, albeit in wildly varying configurations) for most of his life.

However, there are some Spider-Man comics fans who are excited about the reboot as an adaptation, one of whom details their reasoning on Whedonesque.

In any case, one of the coolest things about The Avengers was seeing all these superheroes, many of them from their own solo films, coming together to form a team. And more heroes is always better, right? (Okay, one of the criticisms that many people made of Spider-Man 3 was that it had too many villains, but if anyone can juggle multiple characters, it's professional character-juggler Joss Whedon.) So if Spider-Man were to join Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, et al. in the sequel, even if just for a cameo (though hopefully he'd get a bigger role), that would be awesome. And if Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury turned up in a surprise cameo at the end of the credits for The Amazing Spider-Man to recruit Peter Parker/Spider-Man into The Avenger Intiative, that would be probably the best crossover ever. There's still time...

Rights issues can be complicated, and studios are generally reluctant to work together, because they don't want to be seen aiding their competitors' interests rather than their own, but surely Marvel and Sony can come to some agreement. (There's nothing they can't face if they're together...) With the immense popularity of The Avengers and the Spider-Man franchise, surely everyone would gain. And let's not forget, Joss Whedon made Angel. Who better to take on lawyers than the eponymous ensouled vampire Angel, aka The Dark Avenger...?

See also:

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer online

EXCELSIOR! Why the Future of Movies is Marvel

5 lessons DC could learn from Marvel, movie-wise

The Avengers movie review

Seven things that will make the Avengers movie awesome

8 reasons why a Spider-Man TV series would have legs

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