Spider-Man 4 hits reset button

Oh dear, we thought it might come down to this.

After weeks of rumour, heated debate and constant speculation over the future of Spider-Man 4 , Sony Pictures have officially announced that they will be rebooting the Spider-Man franchise with the fourth web-slinging flick.

Apparently using a pre-existing script by James Vanderbilt, the next Spidey film will return Peter Parker to his teen roots and follow him as he grapples with his super-powers in a high school setting.

And here’s the thing. All of the franchise’s pre-existing contributors – y’know, the ones primarily responsible for making the films so successful – have been dumped. Seems Sony and Sam Raimi just couldn’t agree on where to go with Spidey 4 after all.

Sony boss Amy Pascal had this to say in a press release:

“A decade ago we set out on this journey with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire and together we made three Spider-Man films that set a new bar for the genre.

“When we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box-office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise.

“Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans.

“We’re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter's roots.”

With great power comes great responsibility, Ms Pascal. We can’t say that we’re massively surprised by this about-turn; we were already concerned that the extended talks, paired with Raimi’s inability to compromise on his passion project, would end up getting pretty fiery.

But this seems like a bit of a slap in the director’s face. Were things really that bad? Guess we’ll never know.

Can you swing with a rebooted Spidey ? Think it’s a cop-out? Tell us below.