When I was eagerly anticipating the release of The Avengers, I like other comic book fans was dreaming of what was to come and what would be hidden away. For myself, both as a movie-goer and a film industry critic, I had the notion that there would be a secret Avenger, who would come in at the big climax in New York City. The two likely candidates were Spider-Man and Wolverine, with the former being the one I would place my bet on. As a viewer, this would have been the ultimate display of fan service. As an industry watcher, this would have been the key factor that would guarantee to make The Avengers the number one highest grossing film of all time.
Of course, all was for naught. I knew it would be the impossible dream, since both of those characters were tied up with other studios, with Spider-Man still in Sony's corner unless they give up the rights back to Marvel/Disney (fat chance!) or keep the franchise going. Instead, we got a killer stinger, which was awesome though.
Unfortunately for us, we have been bombarded with advertisements, p.r., exclusive footage, and tons of trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man for way too long. I generally liked Andrew Garfield's "small knives!" joke the first time I heard. 100 T.V. spots later, it really, really tasks me. Thanks to the internet, someone decided to collect every single video released by Sony, negating any repeats, into one video with a running time of 25 minutes! That's practically a quarter of the entire film! Trailers are often notorious for spoilers and even featuring the ending of their movie, but this is a ridiculous amount of pre-hype.
What is even worst for Sony is how all of these first looks are starting to erode their potential audiences. Sure, it is a given that the film will be #1 at the box office and enjoy some Fourth of July love from game-happy families. But if any of those people watched any or all of the pre-release videos before finally seeing the film, the experience would consist mainly of thumb-spinning and waiting before something new and unseen comes out. Combine this with people still questioning the need for a reboot and the rumors that Sony is not happy with Marc Webb's direction, you have yourself a serious potential backfire and a waste of time.
All of this heavy propaganda for this film, along with the increasing flat trailers, is the reason why I didn't pick the movie for My Top Picks of the Summer. I wanted to watch aliens vs. battleships and stupid gothic humor than see this film, despite my enjoyment of all the actors in the cast. Will I still see it? Yes, but definitely not on opening day, nor in the later hours of any day. Why should I pay for high ticket prices for something I have practically already seen when I can get it for a matinee discount or attached to a drive-in double bill?
Post-Edit: Sony has continued releasing expanded scenes, with an additional 3 minutes of new footage. Are they that scared of audiences' expectations that they need to spoil the film even further or is it a sign of pre-damage control before a possible derision of the product?
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