The Big Finale: Spoilers From Spider-Man 3's Battle Royale

As Spider-Man 3 progresses through postproduction and more and more sequences approach completion, so it means that more and more staff on the production get to see more and more of the material.

For a very long time now I've known roughly how Spider-Man 3 concludes. Just now, though, I've been handed lots and lots more information. Though my source has yet to see the complete sequence, they've witnessed enough material - some shots, some animatics, some storyboards - to get a very clear idea of what's going on. Pretty much everything to follow is spoiler material, if that doesn't go without saying.

There's a tremendous action climax to the film, set in a construction site. Peter is trying to take the Sandman down; Eddie Brock as Venom is here to try and take Peter down; and Harry does his best to lend Peter a hand.

The Sandman seems to pull out of the fight after his young daughter intervenes. She's a secret character, with not much known about her (at least as far as the material in trailers is concerned) as is his wife, played by Theresa Russell. We have seen a glimpse of her, however, in one poster, clutching a teddy bear.

The Sandman's 'submission' gives Spider-Man his chance to best Venom, and in fact, Eddie Brock is killed... even though the symbiote isn't. Peter finds himself under attack from the host-less symbiote as it tries to posess him once more. The first time it possessed Peter was after he'd put Harry in the hospital, this time it look like it comes after him once Harry has died.

The big clue as to how Peter defeats the symbiote is actually in the trailers: ringing the bell in the church tower disturbed the symbiote's groove enough that Peter could tear it off; here, he clangs girders in the construction site together to gain the upper hand.

Now, I've been told that Mary Jane Watson is definitely heading off to meet her maker before the end of the movie, and you would think that this scene is where it is most likely to happen. Unfortunately, her death really must be getting kept under the strictest security as nothing my source has seen supports the claim at all.

Obviously, though, there are shots of Mary Jane in the trailers that place her very clearly at this location, during this conflict - so there's more to be revealed. I'm thinking she dies because Peter just isn't quick enough, and possibly gives the symbiote a good chance to posess him again. That all adds up to me.

Now, a few weeks ago, I recieved an e-mail telling me that the Sandman gets destroyed in this scene and explaining how, but as this came from an untested source, I was reluctant to run it. Just as a footnote, though, I'll tell you that, predictably enough, it involved a lot of water and an electricity cable. It's possible that Raimi is working on two parallel resolutions - one that kills Sandman, one which saves him - but I doubt it. I'm banking on the 'intervening daughter' storyline as it makes more sense with everything I know about the film's plot and characterisation overall. Besides, it's about time that one of Spider-Man's opponents ends the movie alive.

Spider-Man 3 (the best film of 2007?) is released worldwide on May 4th. You can subscribe to film ick's daily e-mail to keep abreast of any developments or just check the main page (and get lots of other good stuff into the bargain).

[EDIT: I have recently received even more spoilery information regarding Spider-Man 3 and am in the process of checking it out with the two people I know close to the production. It will go right up on the front page here as soon as I hear back from them...presuming, of course, that they can confirm it]