When is SpiderMan 4 coming out? Well for that question, there is a very simple and straight forward answer: May 5, 2011. The release date is firm and has been confirmed by the kind folks at Columbia Pictures, owners of the Spidey franchise. A more difficult question to ask however is how we can make sure that the new Spidey picture is not a theatrical flop like the third film in the franchise was (of course, considering that Transformers 3 has gotten a nod, one can imagine that the studios don’t seem to mind the ridiculous story lines and care only if they can milk a great franchise just a little more).

Well, in order to answer that second question, the folks at Film School Rejects offered several ideas for the new film. First, they talked about Elizabeth Banks, who played Betty Brant in the previous incarnations of the amazing Spider Man. She has always had a cameo role and from what they had to say, it sounds like she doesn’t want to take yet another tiny role for the fourth film. They suggest that she should have a major part and I say why not? Anything to increase the acting and drop the over reliance on special effects and dancing between tall buildings in New York.

While others were asking when is SpiderMan 4 coming out, these folks also suggested a few other ideas. They suggested that Dr. Curt Connors, who (according to the comic book series) turns into The Lizard should be given the nod to have a much larger role in the new film. The suggestion here is that he turn into a mentor to young Peter Parker and only later be allowed to morph into a super villain. A very interesting idea indeed since that could give Spider Man star Toby Maguire some real possibilities for an acting role, instead of his dancing that we saw too much of in number 3.

Speaking of Toby Maguire, they suggested and I whole heartedly agree, the human spider must come out of his web. Maguire is a great actor. We saw him do a phenomenal job in the first and second movies but he just died as an actor when the third movie came out. Come on Toby, just because you’re famous now doesn’t mean you get to stop acting. Show us what you can do and we’ll love you for it.

And just in case you still didn’t get it, the answer to your question, when is SpiderMan 4 coming out is that it will be in theaters in May 5, 2011.