With Spider-Man 3 less than two weeks away, I thought now would be a good time to debut what I hope to make a regular thing. See, a lot of fans will make up their minds about a genre or comic-based film long before it hits the multiplexes. Taking even the slightest bits of information or gossip, a fan will immediately decide whether a film is gonna be great, or if it’s gonna suck. I like to take the “wait-and-see” approach, myself. Sometimes because it’s rational to do so, and sometimes because I don’t want to admit a potential film I want to like could actually be worse than a visit to the dentist. I’m definitely looking forward to Spider-Man 3, as I’m anxious to see a comic book movie franchise break the “trilogy curse”. Think about it; Superman III, Batman Forever, Blade Trinity, X-Men: The Last Stand, etc. Highly successful comic movie franchises that reached their third films, and went down the crapper from there. I’d say Spider-Man 3 has a fairly good chance of avoiding this trend. Let’s take a look at what it has to overcome:

Let’s Get Funny! – In an attempt to make comic book sequels more lighthearted, filmmakers have shoehorned funny men such as Richard Pryor and Jim Carrey into high-profile comic sequels with disastrous results. And nothing dulled Blade’s edge more than the supporting cast of comedic actors that included Ryan Reynolds, Parker Posey, John Michael Higgins, and Patton Oswald. The funniest bit of casting, though? Natasha Lyonne as a blind geneticist!! Still, I guess it’s better than Tara Reid playing an anthropologist in Alone in the Dark.

Advantage for Spider-Man 3 – Fans might actually appreciate some added humor, often complaining that the web-slinger didn’t have enough clever quips in the first two films. Mind you, the new film seems to be all about Peter exploring his dark side via the alien symbiote.

Changing of the Guard – Michael Keaton wisely opted out of Batman Forever, and in his stead, we got Val Kilmer. Despite being one of my favorite actors, the man just plain sucked as Batman. There was nothing frightening or mysterious about him, because it always looked like he was trying too hard.

Advantage for Spider-Man 3 – Despite the Jake Gyllenhall rumors going back since before Spider-Man 2, Tobey Maguire continues to hold things down as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The entire cast has stuck together through all three films, even the characters who died in the first one!

The Direct(or) Approach – As great as Batman Begins is, I still love Burton’s original films. The first Batman really captured the crime fiction era of Batman, and definitely proved influential in the approach taken with Batman: The Animated Series. With Batman Returns, it was definitely more of a Burton-esque film, but it still felt like Batman to me. The specific details aside, Burton still nailed the relationships and motivations of the characters. And c’mon, Michelle Pfieffer in that Catwoman outfit? Halle Berry’s costume designers should have taken notes! But along came Schumacher, who saw fit to make things comparable to the 60s Adam West series. The neon, the nipples, oh, the nipples!! Schumacher created a world where Batman was less of an urban myth, and more of a public celebrity.

Advantage for Spider-Man 3 – A die-hard fan of the comics from way back, Sam Raimi has devoted a good six or seven years of his life to working solely on these films, and with the right motivation, he’d gladly do a fourth. He understands what makes Spider-Man work. First and foremost, Spider-Man is Peter Parker: Average Joe. As long as Raimi never loses sight of that, he’s not likely to fail.

Villains Unite! – More often than not, villains teaming up in comic movie sequels is really forced, and some great comic villains have ended up getting shortchanged in the process. Whereas Two-Face would have made a great solo villain for Batman, Jim Carrey went into full scenery-chewing mode as The Riddler, and left poor old Tommy Lee Jones in the dust. And when the time came for Magneto to rebuild his Brotherhood in X-Men: The Last Stand, countless major villains found themselves playing mute flunkies. Even the all-powerful Phoenix plays second banana to the master of magnetism. Didn’t this woman go megaton on a whole solar system in the comics?

On The Fence – The big hitch for Spider-Man 3 will be juggling three major villains; Sandman, Harry: The Snowboarding Goblin, and Venom, or as I like to call him, Toothy McForeman. Any of them would have proven formidable for Spidey on their own, but all three of them in one?!? From what I can tell, they each serve a justifiable purpose. The plot point of Sandman being Uncle Ben’s real killer screams “red herring”, but it’ll parallel Harry’s story arc, as he’s in the exact same position. As for Venom, whether or not he feels like too much of an afterthought depends on how well the rivalry between Peter Parker and Eddie Brock plays out.

All things considered, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The first Spider-Man hasn’t aged very well, but Spider-Man 2 is still a near perfect film, in my opinion. It’ll be an impressive feat if Spider-Man 3 manages to top it.