How they could've fixed Spiderman 3

My roommates and I have had Spider-man on the brain. After wasting loads of time on my recently purchased copy of Spider-man 2 for the PS2 this last week, we watched Spider-man 3 last night and had some discussion on it. And, well, I've come to a conclusion: not only was Spider-man 3 not as horrible as it was made out to be, but it could've been fixed easily. I had some ideas, and I'd like it if you guys could 1. opine on my ideas, and 2. give some of your own.

And no, I'm not whining about the reboot (although I do think it's a terrible idea) and I'm not thinking Sam Raimi is gonna stumble on this editorial, get ideas, and ask to be allowed to do a remake. This is just for fun.

So anyways, before I list the specific changes I'd make, I came up with a couple themes that they could've used for S3 and 4. If Spider-man 3 is about forgiveness and facing your inner demons, S4 could've been about retribution.

First off, the Venom subplot. Venom is such a huge villain in the Spider-man mythos that he should have had two films to develop entirely. I think he should've been developed fully as Eddie Brock throughout S3; close to the end, Spider-man sheds the black suit, and at the very end of the movie Brock gets it on him. Then, make Venom the primary villain of S4. (More on Venom later.)

Second: the Flint Marko/ Sandman subplot. This seemed like a pretty brilliant idea when I watched S3 for the first time, but it was almost hard to care with everything else going on in the film. This part of the movie was a good one to remain intact, but it should've been focused on more.

Third: Harry Osborn. His part, like Venom's, should've been spread out in two films. Have Spider-man defeat him 2/3 of the way through the movie, albeit while he's wearing the black suit; he nearly kills Harry, and leaves him physically scarred. In S4, following the theme of retribution Peter goes and makes things right with Harry. No butler taking two films to reveal that Norman might as well have killed himself; and make Peter actually apologize (which never happened in the movie).

Fourth: The Mary Jane/Gwen Stacy/ Peter Parker love triangle. This was perhaps the worst part of the movie and honestly, I don't know what they could've done to fix it besides completely overhauling the subplot. It would've been more interesting if Peter and Mary Jane's relationship had actually changed- either she dumps him entirely, or they tie the knot. If the former had taken place, Gwen's role S4 could've been to replace the void left by Mary Jane.

And finally, Spidey himself. No emo/metro fashion changes. Period. Instead, make Spider-man commit some crimes, petty to extreme (perhaps Eddie's photos weren't fake?), turning the city against him. Of course he only did that while wearing the black suit, so in S4, people see Venom doing the same and worse... you know what happens then. Spider-man has to defeat Venom almost to make it up to the city (retribution, again.)

So here's my changes in a nutshell:
Spider-man 3: Spider-man gets the symbiote, slowly goes all out evil. Defeats and nearly kills Green Goblin halfway through the film (which is when he realizes he needs to change). Discovers Sandman killed his uncle and wants to kill him, but when he gets rid of the black suit, he's willing to forgive the guy. Also, the events of the movie cause nearly irreparable damage to his relationship with Mary Jane. Finally, Eddie Brock becomes Venom at the very end.

Spider-man 4: Spider-man is now hated by the city, and they're not just going to take him back- he has to fix things. Things are worse now that Venom, a Spider-man look-alike, is destroying the city (and J. Jonah Jameson makes everyone think the hero and villain are one and the same). Plus, Dr. Connors has an experiment go wrong and becomes the Lizard. Peter dates Gwen Stacy for a while; it doesn't work out, and he ends up with MJ again once she realizes he's changed. Harry forgives Peter and the two defeat Venom and Lizard.Full story in comicbookmovie.com