Sony's expanded Spider-Man universe may end with Kraven The Hunter

Kraven The Hunter is looking at pretty dire box office projections at the moment, capping off what may be the final disappointment for Sony’s attempt at building an independent Marvel cinematic universe. The studio just never managed to get its Spiderverse off the ground; even its one successful spin-off series, Venom, saw diminishing returns at the box office with each subsequent release. The Wrap has a new report examining Sony’s many flops (Morbius, Madame Web, and now probably Kraven), and there’s good reason to believe that the studio is going to drop its Marvel dreams outside of Spider-Man. 

There are a few sources willing to (anonymously) testify as much, including a “top talent agent” who says, “They’ve developed what they want to develop for now. It’s really about the next Spider-Man film.” A Sony insider seems to agree that the studio is done trying to make its well of B-tier Spidey villains into main characters, and will instead focus on Tom Holland’s next Spider-Man, the next Spider-Verse animated film, and the Spider-Noir television series with Nic Cage. All of those projects notably feature actual Spider-Men, as opposed to all the movies that danced around the idea of Spider-Man. (And by the way, even focusing on Spidey heroes isn’t a guarantee: the studio’s planned series Silk: Spider Society got scrapped at Prime Video earlier this year.)

But it’s not just the fault of the B-tier (or C- or even D-tier) characters involved that the Sony Marvel universe failed. Famously, Marvel Studios was able to take lesser-known comic book characters (like Iron Man or the Guardians of the Galaxy) and turn them into major money makers. Instead, The Wrap piece argues, it’s the “poorly executed” films themselves that are the issue. Take it from another Sony insider who sums it up in one devastating quote: “The biggest issue with the Sony Spider-Man spinoffs seems to be the lack of quality control. The movies just aren’t good. Sometimes that lack of quality meets a movie no one asked for, which was the case with Madame Web, and that is a no-win scenario. It may be time for Sony to start cultivating different IP to launch new franchises.” You can read the full piece for yourself here.