Sony has confirmed what we feared: Amazing Spider-Man 3 will not arrive in 2016. In fact, the sequel has been pushed back more than two years and will now premiere some time in 2018.

The delay was foreshadowed last week when screenwriter Roberto Orci told IGN that he was not involved with the sequel and wasn’t even aware of the studio’s plans for the franchise. But big factors in the decision could be the disappointing box office haul and overall reception by critics and fans of Amazing Spider-Man 2.

In a lesser franchise, raking in more than $700 million would not be deemed a bad sign, but considering the amount of marketing money Sony put behind the film and the fact that Spidey is such a well-known character, the studio was expecting better numbers. It’s a long way south of the billion-dollar franchise the studio hoped for.

Orci said, “He’s such a popular character. Spider-Man’s not going to go away anytime soon.” But although that may be true, it seems that Sony plans to do some major re-working. According to rumors, one of the changes could be another Peter Parker. Also, Marc Webb was expected to return to direct the sequel, but it’s unclear if he’s still attached to the project. At a minimum, a plot overhaul is definitely required.

Amazing Spider-Man 4 was originally slated for a 2018 release, so obviously it will also be pushed back, and there’s a very real chance it may never come to fruition.