The strength of the two Spider-Man movies has not only been fantastic special effects, but also a solid character-driven story on par with decades of comic book tales about the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. That story should remain a strength of the third film as well, as Alvin Sargent, who penned Spider-Man 2, has started work on the third film. This comes right on the heels of his completed seven-figure deal with Sony Pictures to write the third film, with (joy!) an option to pen a fourth film as well.

As stated by Variety, Sargent “has shown that well-honed character development skills can make a veteran writer more valuable than the twentysomething comicbook geeks who usually get these jobs”. Sony is definitely getting their money’s worth out of his work, and it’s good to see they recognize this, and aren’t trying to push him out for the next sequel in favor of some younger, hipper writer.

While no storyline ideas have been divulged, Sargent has started writing the third installment of the Spider-Man franchise, based on a story crafted by Sargent, director Sam Raimi, and Sam’s brother Ivan. No doubt as this news gets out, fan speculation will hit an all time high, and you can expect rumors to start circling the internet right... about... now.

Sargent getting an option for a fourth film is great news for fans of the spectacular franchise, although who he’d be writing for is up in the air. Film stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are only contracted for three films, and both have made it all but crystal clear that they aren’t interested in doing any more than that. Dunst has gone as far as to suggest the death of her character in the third film, and Maguire almost found himself out of the second film when rumors suggested he wasn’t able to do the film and Sony started positioning Jake Gyllenhall to take over the title role.

Spider-Man 3 is currently set for a May 2007 release.