Sony is swinging to make a Spider-Man spinoff movie. It’s kind of amazing that it took them this long, when you think about how much money Spider-Man has been making them.

HR reports that they’re making Venom, a movie based on the Spider-Man 3 bad guy of the same name. Of course this would be a lot easier to do if they hadn’t killed off Venom in Spider-Man 3, or if they’d even handled the character better to begin with rather than relegating him to a footnote, when really he probably deserved to be the focal point of the movie. Ah well, webbing under the bridge at this point.

Right now it’s still early in the development process. They’ve just commissioned a script to be written by Jacob Estes, best known for Mean Creek, a movie which couldn’t possibly have less to do with superheroes. That could actually be a good thing since, let’s face it, we’re operating in a post-Dark Knight superhero world and the usual comic book shit just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Come on, you’ve noticed it. All the other superhero movies you used to like have started to lose their luster. Our forums and our comments section are now filled with people pissing on superhero movies they used to love. For the record, I called it. Hey I’m not right often. Got to point it out when I am.

Who knows what Estes will come up with. Thing is, Sony may not even use it. Apparently his script is just one of several different drafts they’re having commissioned. I guess they’ll pick the best one, or put them all in a paper shredder, paste all the pieces together, and then shoot whatever they get.

As for whether Topher Grace, who played the character in Spider-Man 3, will be Venom again… it’s up in the air. Sony apparently wants someone who can carry a tentpole, and they don’t think he can. Which probably means they want a “name” which also oftetn means someone who can’t act. Why do I hear the name Josh Hartnett ringing in my head? Topher’s a great actor, the Spidey 3 script just didn’t give him a lot to work with. He’s actually perfect for the part, hopefully the folks at Sony have the spidey-sense necessary to give him a chance.

In the end, it’s all a desperate attempt to respond to the insane success of The Dark Knight. Such panic projects rarely result in real success. I love Venom, but I’ll be shocked if they can put together a spin-off that does the character justice. Spidey only worked because they brought in Raimi and gave him enough control to get the job done. This one sounds like a studio controlled project where they hire people and tell them how they’re going to make it, rather than letting them just make it. That’s bad. Actually, that’s exactly what happened to Spider-Man 3. We all know how well that worked out.