Fans of 'The Amazing Spiderman' film franchise are in for a spot of bad news as the upcoming third installment in the series has been delayed all the way into the year 2018.

Initially, the film was set for a release date somewhere in 2016, but an announcement at the recent San Diego Comic-Con changed that pretty quickly.

Sony's Columbia Pictures announced the delay on July 23, which came as a real surprise, because the first two films in the series were only released two years apart.

On the plus side, a spin-off to the series called 'The Sinsiter Six' is set to be released in November 2016. The spin-off, based on a group of Spiderman's villains, will at least alleviate some of the angst created by the recently announced delay.

Another speculated reason for the delay involves another Marvel Studios film set to release around the time Spidey's third movie was going to hit the big screen. 'Avengers 3' is reported to have taken the place of 'The Amazing Spiderman 3' film.

Other rumors surrounding the delayed blockbuster revolves around actress Emma Stone's part in the new movie. Apparently, she will not be returning to reprise her role as Gwen Stacy, but return as Mary-Jane Watson instead.

This comes across as a bit odd because, Stacy, Spiderman Andrew Garfield's love interest has already died in the story. It should be interesting to see how the same actress plays two different roles in the same film franchise.

No official word has been released confirming or denying these rumors, so fans will have to wait, maybe until 2018, to find out if they are true.

As it stands, 'Avengers 3' will be released on May 2015, 'Amazing Spider-Man 3' in 2018, while its spinoff, 'The Sinister Six,' is set to be released on Nov. 11, 2016.