Sony Pictures
Sony’s biggest franchise is “Spider-Man,” and it’s not particularly close. The problem? It can only make so many movies that actually have Spider-Man in them. That’s why the studio has made spin-offs centered on villains like “Venom” in recent years. It was suspected that Sony’s “Spider-Man” villain universe could be dead after “Kraven the Hunter.” But now we know that spin-off universe will be rebooted.
In a recent interview on “The Town” podcast, Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman addressed the future of the studio’s handling of the larger “Spider-Man” universe. Rothman was asked if the larger Spider-Verse was dead, to which he replied, “No.” He was then asked if the studio was going to revisit “those” at some point. Rothman said “yes.” Asked to clarify if it would be a fresh reboot with new people, Rothman then doubled down saying, “yes, yes.”
It seems Tom Holland is still going to be the main Spidey going forward. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” hits theaters in July. But don’t expect to see “Madame Web 2” or “Morbius 2” — not that we were exactly at any risk of that anyhow. The box office for “Madame Web” was bad enough to kill Sony’s further spin-off plans, and Rothman’s new comments make it clear Sony knows that the approach wasn’t working.
“Venom” was a massive hit in 2018, taking in $856 million at the box office, but that proved to be an outlier. Critics generally dismissed the movie, but audiences embraced it. Sony seemed to think “to hell with critics” and moved forward with more spin-offs. The misfires mounted, and now it’s back to the drawing board. Sony can claim that the flop that was “Morbius” turned a profit, but not enough of one to save this venture as it exists.
Sony’s approach to the larger Spider-Man universe must change
Sony Pictures
Starring Jared Leto, who has asserted himself as box office poison, “Morbius” made just $167 million globally — a pitiful sum by Marvel standards. That set the tone for anything outside of the “Venom” franchise. “Madame Web” barely made it past the $100 million mark, and “Kraven the Hunter” topped out at a measly $62 million. All of these movies were eviscerated critically.
While “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($506 million) and “Venom: The Last Dance” ($479 million) performed reasonably well, each installment made less than its predecessor, with Tom Hardy retiring from the title role. For that reason, “Venom: The Last Dance” presented a problem for Sony’s Marvel universe: where to go from here? That’s a question Tom Rothman and the rest of the brass at Sony now need to answer. They can no longer make excuses.
“Madame Web underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it,” then-outgoing Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra said to the Los Angeles Times in 2024. “It was not a bad film, and it did great on Netflix. For some reason, the press decided that they didn’t want us making these films out of Kraven and Madame Web, and the critics just destroyed them.”
Blaming critics only gets you so far. Audiences were already beginning to turn on superhero movies, even the good ones, as they’re no longer performing as well as they used to. Films as bad as “Morbius” have little or no chance in the marketplace.
We’re already seeing some changes. An animated “Venom” movie is in the works from “Final Destination Bloodlines” filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein. That’s a start. As for the live-action stuff? We’ll have to see what Rothman and co. can come up with.