With Sony's Spider-Man Universe Officially Ending An Era, There's Now One Big Winner

In the aftermath of bringing Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony Pictures set out to create its own Spider-Man Universe, one focused on the hero's villains. Sony's Spider-Man Universe officially began in 2018 with the release of Venom, Tom Hardy's action movie that became a bona fide blockbuster, grossing $856 million.

Venom's success gave Sony confidence to move ahead with this universe at full force. Hardy was able to make an entire Venom trilogy by 2024. Jared Leto headlined a Morbius movie in 2022, which included a cameo from Michael Keaton's Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and others tackled Madame Web in 2024, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson also leading Kraven the Hunter that year.

Sony's plans for the SSU changed constantly, with movies about Sinister Six, Nightwatch, Jackpot, El Muerto, Hypno-Hustler, and possibly Spider-Woman entering development but never getting off the ground. The studio was even on the verge of bringing Tom Holland's Spider-Man into the fold when Sony and Marvel Studios' deal to share the web-slinger hit a snag in 2019. Ultimately, the sides agreed on a new deal, creating Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day together.

But Sony won't be making any more movies in the SSU. Sony CEO Tom Rothman confirmed in a recent interview that Sony's Spider-Man Universe is dead. Regarding plans for future movies, he said, "There are none in active development." It marks the end of an era for Sony after an up-and-down six-year run, but it also creates a big winner.

Why Sony's Spider-Man Universe Is Over: What Went Wrong

The SSU ending after six movies isn't too surprising based on the results that Sony saw. For as promising a financial start as Venom was, the universe was not able to build on that momentum and make the franchise one audiences were fully invested in.

The quality of these movies was a big reason why. None of the movies received mostly positive reviews from critics, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage's 58% on Rotten Tomatoes the highest of the franchise. The films were consistently riddled with weak characters and unsatisfying stories that made it difficult to turn viewers into fans. The SSU's worst decisions exemplify the head-scratching choices the movies made.

Beyond the quality of them, these movies faced an uphill battle by being movies about Spider-Man villains that could not (or at least did not) include Spider-Man. Rather than seeing Venom or Kraven the Hunter fight Spider-Man, they had to battle other Spider-Man villains. This strips the characters of the core antagonistic relationship they have in the comics.

That is why so many hoped that any Spider-Man would eventually be in the SSU. Holland's version was the priority for Sony and made the most sense, considering his current popularity. If that was not doable due to the MCU deal, Sony could have put these villains in Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man universe to find a way to bring him back into a lead role, too.

But without Spider-Man or even the promise of him coming, audiences caught on to the fact that these villains would never encounter the web-slinger. The result was audiences largely rejecting the movies at the box office. Each Venom movie was successful for the studio thanks to modest budgets and grosses north of $475 million. But Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter all sank.

By the time Kraven rolled around in 2024, it was abundantly clear that audiences did not care for these films. Sony came to see that, too, with Rothman saying in the latest interview that "the audience wasn't satisfied enough" and "they didn't respond" to most of the movies. It's left Sony with no other choice than to kill the franchise, at least for now; Rothman previously teased a Spider-Man Universe reboot was coming.

Tom Holland's Spider-Man Should Be The Big Winner From Sony's Universe Ending

What Sony loses in terms of a potential superhero cinematic universe should be Tom Holland's gain. His Spider-Man was already the studio's crown jewel at the box office, and that has only proven to be more true with Spider-Man: Brand New Day's record performance. He is expected to make Spider-Man 5 in the future and most likely a sixth standalone film as well.

The good news for him is that Sony no longer has conflicting interests regarding how to use Spider-Man villains if the SSU is done. Before, it made sense for Sony to hold onto Spider-Man's most notable villains for themselves to see if they could craft a movie around them rather than gift them to the MCU. For a non-Holland-related example, Ryan Coogler wanted Kraven in a version of Black Panther, but Sony wouldn't approve the appearance for Marvel Studios.

Now, Sony could be more willing to share the villains with Marvel. Holland should have all the power as they develop Spider-Man 5 to get Venom, Kraven, Morbius, Black Cat, Carnage, Knull, Rhino, etc. in the movie if he wants. For any character previously in the SSU, a recast would be expected to give the character a clean slate as they battle Holland's Spider-Man.

What makes that so exciting for the Spider-Man star is he can stay in the MCU, where he's been most successful, and still get to fight the character's biggest villains. Rather than Sony flip-flopping him between different universes to make the MCU and SSU work, Holland gets the best of both worlds.

Which Sony Spider-Man Villain Should Be The Priority For The MCU

If Sony does give the MCU complete access to the thousands of Spider-Man Marvel characters it owns, there is no doubt that Venom is who they should focus on redoing first. He is the most popular villain that the SSU tackled and can be a presence that complicates Peter Parker's life for years to come.

The MCU has already set up Venom's debut, too. Spider-Man: No Way Home's post-credits scene showed Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock leave a piece of his symbiote behind as he was sent back to his original universe. The black goo now roams freely in the MCU, leaving it ready to find a host. It only makes sense to introduce Eddie then and have him be a villain in Spider-Man 5 or Spider-Man 6.

The biggest question for the MCU with Venom is what to do with Hardy. His portrayal often divided fans, and there would be a certain amount of baggage associated with bringing him back. However, he's also incredibly popular and who Holland has wanted to face off against for years. Recasting Venom would be the cleanest move and give the MCU freedom to take him in a different direction, but Hardy could also come back and play Eddie from Earth-616 instead.

Should Sony hold off on giving Venom to the MCU (they are developing an animated Venom movie after all), Kraven the Hunter should be next up. He was the villain choice for Spider-Man: No Way Home until Sony blocked it, leading to the sequel taking a multiversal turn. Now that the Spider-Man franchise is grounded again, it would be fun to see a new Kraven hunt down Spidey.

Movie(s)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man Strikes Back, Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse

TV Show(s)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Spider-Noir

Comic

The Amazing Spider-Man

First Film

Spider-Man