Marc Webb has been confirmed as the director of the next Spider-Man trilogy. Following rumours of his surprise status as contender to Sam Raimi's crown, Marvel and Sony officially announced that the deal has now been spun and signed for.

The director of (500) Days of Summer, nominated for two Golden Globes and three Independent Spirit Awards, is excited by the opportunity given to him: "This is a dream come true and I couldn't be more aware of the challenge, responsibility, or opportunity. Sam Raimi's virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon."

Webb added: "I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to 'take over' from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I'm here because there's an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man.

After booting Sam Raimi out over massive disagreements (mostly to do with casting John Malkovich), Sony have been working away at a Spidey reboot for 2012. With James Vanderbilt's script in place, and a director who knows how to handle young adults and emotions - and costs less - the studio are sitting pretty smug on this one. And with the quick appointment of Sam's successor, their release date should remain unchanged: production begins later this year.

Amy Pascal, co-Chairman of Sony issued the following statement: "At its core, Spider-Man is a small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager that takes place in an epic super-human world. The key for us was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker's life. We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter's shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age... We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey."

It's hard to disagree with that. I just hope he chooses someone decent to play Peter Parker. And by decent I mean not Robert Pattinson.

A Spidey world post-Sam Raimi? Sony aren't scared. They're already lining up his replacement. And who's near the top of the list? (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb. Deadline Hollywood have reported that he's met with the studio to discuss the idea, although it's hardly set in stone. The shortlist also includes folks like James Cameron and David Fincher - every helmer out there in Hollywood, in fact.

But if Marc were to spin Spidey's new web from scratch, he could bring a considerable amount of visual style to proceedings. Plus he'd be new enough to the blockbuster game to be bullied into not casting John Malkovich. Ever. Sony don't seem to like him very much.

So if Sony decide to go all 3-D, which they may well do, Webb will probably go along with it. Still, with (500) Days on his CV, he could easily pull off a Christopher Nolan here - who knew he had action movie potential when he took on Batman Begins?

You read that correctly. It's been flying all over the internet tonight that Sony are shelving the Spidey sequel in favour of a complete reboot. Sam Raimi has gone. Tobey Maguire's gone. Anne Hathaway's gone. John Malkovich has gone - not that he was ever in it in the first place. Which was the main problem, really. With Sam and Sony disagreeing over the director's determined casting call for his villain, The Vulture, Spidey 4's May release was looking unlikely. Now it won't happen at all.

Jamie Vanderbilt is stilll on board to scribble out his new version of Spider-Man's origins. But the rest of the talent will change over completely as Peter Parker goes back to his high-school days. Again. Sony have issued an official statement. You can read that at DeadlineHollywood, who broke the news. But here's what Sam said:

"Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job." Well, that sounds like a sincere and personal note from the departed director.

With Thor muscling in on Sony's old release date, expect wind soon of when Spider-Man 4 (or 1, or 0, or whatever number you want to call it) will hit our screens in 2012. No doubt the new Peter Parker will be some young actor like Zac Efron. And he'll probably be wearing 3-D specs to the party.

Friday 6th May 2011 meant Spider-Man 4 to many fans and investors. But with production officially delayed, Paramount and Marvel have taken the chance to push their Thor release date forward to then, taking the day once owned by Spidey. Although Sony haven't officially put back the release date, other studios are jumping all over the chance to get ahead in the summer stakes.

With Thor's previous date now empty, Disney have parked Pirates 4 into the gap on Friday 20th May. Summer 2011 then continues with The Hangover 2 (28th May), Green Lantern (17th June) and Transformers, Potter and Captain America all turning up July. So if Spider-Man does continue as planned, it'll be a squeeze for Sony to fit it in. Paramount have said they'll give the date back if it does happen, so one of them will have to find a new spot somewhere.

Amidst all the rescheduling for next year's sequel-fest, it's clear that there's a very important lesson to take away from all this: next time Sam Raimi wants John Malkovich in his film - a flying John Malkovich, nonetheless - don't disagree with him. Just give him the damn money.

Malkovich, Malkovich? Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich! That's pretty much what goes through most people's heads at least 20% of the time. No wonder, given that this is the man who is 100% awesome. Especially when he's playing a bad guy. So it's great news to hear that, according to Movieline, The Malkovich has been offered the part of the villain in Sam Raimi's next Spidey flick. The bad news being, of course, that Spider-Man 4 exists in the first place.

Who might Malkovich play? Why, none other than The Vulture - aka Adrian Toomes, a robber who dons a hi-tech harness that allows him to FLY. The Vulture will apparently be joined by none other than Anne Hathway, who will be playing... you guessed it, The Vulturess.

The Vulturess? Who are these people?! Well, while The Vulture is a true old-school villain for Spidey, The Vulturess is a brand new one they've made up (cue obligatory fan outrage). The theories going round at the moment suggest that she'll be a tinkered version of Black Cat, whose alter ego Felicia Hardy is confirmed to appear in Spider-Man 4 (following massive Hollywood-wide auditions from all the hot young beautiful laydees).

Will two villains work properly this time? Will Tobey Maguire sort out his face? And will Hathaway donning black leather really appease the fans? I don't really care. I'm not a Spider-Man fanatic to say the least. But anything that makes John Malkovich fly has certainly piqued my interest. Filming on Spidey starts in March, before it slings into our cinemas in May 2011.