The Amazing Spider-Man 2 type Movie

Prepare for an expansion in the Spider-verse. With The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swinging into theaters on May 2, Sony Pictures takes a big step forward with its amazing Spider-Plan. In this week’s Entertainment Weekly, senior writer Sara Vilkomerson talks with Team Spidey — including director Marc Webb and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, and Dane DeHaan — about the decision to commit to two more Amazing Spider-Man films, for 2016 and 2018, in addition to two spin-offs focusing on beloved villains Venom and the Sinister Six.

“At the tail end of this movie we set up some of the other characters that will probably end up being in the Sinister Six,” says Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal. “We’re going forward on all fronts.” (The studio hasn’t yet announced the exact makeup of its big-screen Sinister Six, but comic book fan Garfield says he personally digs Venom, Doc Ock, Vulture, and Kraven.)

What makes Sony’s plan so radical is the studio is putting the villains from the Spider-Man universe front and center. “Villains can be very entertaining,” says producer Avi Arad. “It’s not like somebody’s born and they’re a villain. Something happens and it changes their lives. Some people can deal with it — they become the heroes. Some people can’t and hate the world because of what they felt was done to them — they become the villains.” Plus, wasn’t it always the bad guys — Jack Nicholson as the Joker or Michelle Pfeiffer in that catsuit — that seemed like they were having the most fun? “Great villains are the characters you remember,” says producer Matt Tolmach. “There’s a lot of us in those people. It’s hard to identify with people who are good all the time.”

For more on The Amazing Spider-Man 2, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands March 28. And be sure to join our Twitter chat with Andrew Garfield this Friday, March 28, at 2 p.m. ET. Tweet @EW and tag #AskAndrew to submit your questions now, and then tune in on Friday for answers!