Those of you that were hoping one day Marvel/Disney might reacquire the rights to the Spider-Man movie franchise it looks like you’re going to be waiting for a while.  Even before the second movie in the series has hit the big screens Sony Pictures has announced the release dates for Amazing Spider-Man 3 and Amazing Spider-Man 4.  The sequels are slated to hit the big screen on June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018 respectively.

Sony Pictures is showing a great deal of confidence in this series since as of now the only movie to have been released is the first one.  The official announcement of the sequels came courtesy of Jeff Blake, chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony.  In a statement he said: “Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is set to hit big screens on May 2, 2014.  One thing is certain though Andrew Garfield who plays Peter Parker aka The Amazing Spider-Man is going to be very busy for the next five years.

From a personal stand point I’m happy to see Sony commit to this franchise.  While I took issue with a few things in the first movie, namely the omission of the iconic line ‘with great power comes great responsibility,’ it was a lot of fun, and Andrew Garfield nailed the role of Peter Parker.  The same thing holds true for Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.  I know I’ll be keeping watch on these Spider-Man movies as they progress.