Quoted from Nokoro:When did these spiderman VE rumors start? I seem to have missed it.
A poster that seems to have an inside line on Stern's plans and has been right in the past predicted it, with backup from others that claim to have spoken with "people that would know." You can read all about it here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/lots-of-spidermans-for-salerecently
Like you I'd much prefer to see an LOTR VE, but I have to admit that the idea of re-skinning SM with non-movie art and sound is pretty cool and could be a major success if done right. And who knows, if it works well maybe Stern would be motivated to make additional "improvements" (i.e. better sound quality) for an LOTR VE if/when they get around to making it.