Sony has revealed its big plans to expand the Spider-Man franchise into a larger movie universe, officially announcing spinoff movies for Venom and The Sinister Six.

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Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard will collaborate on overseeing the “developing story over several films” says Sony, saying they “have formed a franchise brain trust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread throughout the films,” in conjunction with producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach and director Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2).Kurtzman & Orci & Solomon will write Venom, with Kurtzman directing, while Goddard will write and possibly direct Sinister Six.Said Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgard, “The Spider-Man film franchise is one of our studio’s greatest assets. We are thrilled with the creative team we have assembled to delve more deeply into the world that Marc, Avi and Matt have begun to explore in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We believe that Marc, Alex, and Drew have uniquely exciting visions for how to expand the Spider-Man universe in each of these upcoming films.”Kurtzman, Orci and Pinker wrote the Amazing Spider-Man 2 and are returning to write The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which the press release notes Sony hopes Webb will return to direct.Ed Solomon (Men in Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) is new to the franchise, as is Goddard (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Cabin in the Woods). Goddard will have his hands full with Marvel properties soon, as he’s not only working on Venom for Sony but will serve as showrunner for Marvel Studios’ Daredevil TV series for Netflix. Except for Solomon, all of Sony’s Spider-Man team have J.J. Abrams connections, with Pinkner first working with Orci & Kurtzman on Fringe and Goddard serving as a writer on Alias alongside Orci & Kurtzman. Kurtzman made his directorial debut with People Like Us last year, while Goddard made his with Cabin in the Woods.Sony’s announcement of these Spider-Man spinoffs is the latest example of what we can refer to as “the Avengers effect” in Hollywood, as studios work to build interlocking movie universes – especially where superheroes are concerned. Warner Bros. of course is adding Batman and Wonder Woman to the next Superman movie , while 20th Century Fox is making plans for a shared universe for the two Marvel franchises they own the movie rights to, X-Men and Fantastic Four Spider-Man is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony's Columbia Pictures and the four Spider-Man films to date have taken in over $3.2 billion worldwide.