I agree, there was a lot to like about Sandman. I just feel his story was so disconnected that it really didn’t fit into the rest of the film. I wish a whole movie could focus more on him (not as Ben’s killer, as you pointed out, but a potentially sympathetic villain), but this movie just didn’t do any characters proper justice, most particularly Sandman. I feel the No Sandman Edition managed to do amazingly well with the remaining plot threads, giving everyone else proportionally more time and placing better emphasis on the relationships of the various characters. I really liked Redemption for improving the original plot, but I like this even better for changing it so drastically.
I’d be interested in seeing your edits whenever you get around to them. Good luck.
Would you mind taking a look into an edit of the movie I did? As a basic outline, I took out Marco as Ben’s killer, limited the jokes and inserted the deleted scenes, not just to add more scenes, but because each deleted scene added character development. Marco is now a sympathetic villain. Peter’s relationship with the suit now perfectly parallels drug addiction. I found the symmetry between a good guy doing bad and a bad guy aiming to be good perfect.