Summary
AfterKraven the Hunteris released in December, evidence suggestsSony’s Spider-Man Universecould be rebooting once again. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is Sony’s answer to the MCU, utilizing the illustrious Spider-Man IP for which the studio has exclusive distribution rights. Sony’s acquisition of Spider-Man distribution rights was finalized in 1999 and has given rise to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy, Andrew Garfield’sThe Amazing Spider-Manmovies, and the current shared universe. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, meanwhile, has been facilitated by a deal between Sony and Marvel, ensuring that one of Marvel’s most iconic characters can be part of the MCU.
Spider-Man has been conspicuously absent from themovies released in the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, however. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has instead been exploring peripheral characters, which began with 2018’sVenom.Six years and four installments later, Sony’s cinematic franchise is looking decidedly unstable after its most recent release,Madame Web, flopped hard and was critically lambasted as one of theworst superhero movies ever made. Nevertheless, Sony is forging ahead with two moreMarvel movies releasing in 2024- but that might be where it ends.
Sony’s Only Successful Spider-Man Universe Live-Action Franchise Is Ending In 2024
Venom: The Last Dance Might Be The Last Venom Movie
Venomremains Sony’s highest-grossing movie in the franchise after grossing $856 worldwide, while its sequel,Venom: Let There Be Carnage, is its second-highest at $501 million.MorbiusandMadame Web, meanwhile, were flops. While the studio will no doubt be hoping to recoup these recent losses with upcoming installments, two out of four releases being flops isn’t a great sign for the series. At the very least,the Venom franchise helps improve prospects for Sony.
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Venom: The Last Dancewill be the third installment in Sony’s most successful series of movies thus far and is possibly the most surefire bet for the studio to improve its fortunes. Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore the general downward trend for Sony’s movies, both taken at large and within the Venom franchise itself, withVenom: Let There Be Carnagegrossing $350 million less than its predecessor. There will need to be a significant push for the movie toreinvigorate Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, which is swiftly losing general enthusiasm.
Unfortunately,Venom: The Last Dance, as the name itself suggests, is likely the final Venom movie. This tracks with Tom Hardy, the franchise’s leading star, suggesting thatVenom 3will be his final outing as Eddie Brock. This puts a lot of pressure onKraven the Hunterto prove that it can keep the torch burning for Sony - except the release slate looks particularly bare.
Sony Doesn’t Have Any Spider-Man Universe Movies On Their Release Slate After 2024
Sony Appears To Be Holding Off On Releasing More Movies
Kraven the Hunteris slated for release on July 04, 2025. This will round out a pretty stacked year for Sony afterMadame Webwas released in February andVenom: The Last Dancereleases in October. At the time of writing,2025 looks decidedly barren by comparison, without a single sequel or new installment to help bolster Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The fact that Sony has not announced a new movie carries some huge implications for the future of the franchise.
El Muerto was initially supposed to be released in January 2024.
This also comes over a year after Sony pulled alive-action movie adaptation of El Muertofrom its schedule.El Muertowas due to explore one of Spider-Man’s most obscure villains, who was to be portrayed by Puerto Rican musician and actor, Bad Bunny. According to the star, there is seemingly no intention to revive the project two years after it was announced in April 2022. While this stops short of an official confirmation thatEl Muertohas been canceled, it is still telling.
There are a slew of other movies that Sony has in development for its Spider-Man Universe, meanwhile. These include solo movies for obscure Marvel characters like Jackpot, Hypno-Hustler, and Nightwatch. Sony boss Amy Pascal also confirmed that a Sinister Six movie was back on the cards after the success ofVenom, which was then teased inthe post-credits scene forMorbius. Nevertheless, none of these projects have moved past the pre-production stage as yet, and nothing populates a 2025 release slate.
What’s Next For Sony’s Spider-Man Universe After 2024?
Sony’s Animated Spider-Verse Trilogy Will Continue
While there will be no movies for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe in 2025 and beyond,the last in Sony’s animated Spider-Verse trilogy is expected to be released. This franchise has, at least, fared exceptionally well compared to Sony’slive-action Spider-Man movies, withSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseeven earning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature andSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseearning a nomination for the same. These aren’t technically counted to be within Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, however.
Things look a little less bare when considering Sony’s small-screen offerings.Noiris an upcoming Nicholas Cage-fronted show following the Spider-Man variant, Spider-Noir, who lives in a Film Noir-style universe during the Great Depression. There is a significant level of hype for this show, particularly after Nicolas Cage has already established the character in Sony’s Spider-Verse franchise, and this may be thanks to the fact thatit features an actual Spider-Man in a Sony movie.
10 Characters Who Could Appear In Silk: Spider Society
The recently announced Silk: Spider Society can expand Sony’s Spider-Man Universe by incorporating heroes and villains like Spider-Girl and Chameleon.
Silk: Spider-Society, meanwhile, follows the titular Silk - real name Cindy Moon - who develops spider-powers from the same radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker. This show was recently dropped by Amazon, but recent reports suggest that Sony is now approaching other networks to pick the project up instead.Silver & Blackis a project following Silver Sable and Black Cat which was scrapped as a movie in 2018, but may now become a limited series for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
How The MCU’s Spider-Man 4 Fits Into Sony’s Plans
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Remains A Central Part Of The MCU
Sony owns all of the rights to Spider-Man, which includes the MCU’s version portrayed by Tom Holland. While Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and the MCU’s Spider-Man collided inSpider-Man: No Way Homeas Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock found himself transported into the MCU’s Earth-616 and left a piece of the Venom symbiote behind, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man remains separate from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.This does not mean, however, that Sony will always preclude Tom Holland’s Spider-Man from its own franchise, as it does retain distribution rights for these particular MCU movies.
Spider-Man 4may focus on a more street-level story within the MCU, according to rumors.
Sony will, therefore, be involved inthe MCU’sSpider-Man 4, which is yet to be announced by Marvel Studios or Sony but remains a part of its presumed release slate. It may be inSpider-Man 4that Marvel develops more on the symbiote tease fromSpider-Man: No Way Home, potentially even letting the MCU’s version of Venom pick up where Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock left off. As it stands, however,Spider-Man 4is dependent on Marvel Studios and the plans it has for its Spider-Man character, though it still needs to work with Sony to produce it.
Whatever the case, Sony is in a conspicuously precarious position. At this juncture, it may be best for the franchise to reboot its Spider-Man efforts, which could start withNoirand continue to develop more exciting installments like its version of the Sinister Six. What does seem clear is that 2025 will remain bereft of a newSony Spider-Man Universemovie for now, leaving a significant gap betweenKraven the Hunterand whatever Sony Spider-Man Universe movie may continue or reboot the franchise.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is a media franchise and shared universe centered around various characters associated with Spider-Man, but without including Spider-Man himself as a central figure. The SSU focuses on antiheroes and villains like Venom and Morbius and has expanded to include additional characters like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter. The franchise exists independently of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but has made some minor crossovers.
