Summary
Sony seems to have finally taken a longstanding hint concerning its attempts at building a shared universe withSpider-Manantagonists after the company’s latest attempt led to its most damaging failure yet, and it’s not taking it well.
Sonyhas had the pleasure of owning the film rights to Spider-Man, easily the most popular character from one of the two comic book industry titans, holding the character back from being a foundational member of Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe as a result. However, the two companies would eventually come to an agreement after the conclusion of Andrew Garfield’s second Spider-Man film to have Tom Holland’s Peter Parker join the MCU. This deal would lead to the character being jointly creatively controlled by Marvel Studios and Sony, but Sony still having the rights to many related characters at their disposal. The company would attempt to launch a new franchise focused on some Spider-Man antagonists, with hopes remaining high through many different setbacks and major failures. Unfortunately, those hopes would take another critical hit when the most recent outing inKraven the Huntermanaged to hit a new low for the embattled franchisedespite an R rating and looking better thanMadame WebandMorbiusat first glance.
WhileKraven the Hunter’sRhino actor Alessandro Nivola has a humorous reaction to the film’s box office failures, the execs at Sony certainly haven’t had the good fortune of taking the box office bomb quite so well. As reported byComicbook, the company seems to have completely taken a planned Spider-Man spinoff film off of the release slate. While there hasn’t been any official statement concerning what the project is or why it was taken off the slate, it’s pretty clear that the move shows that the project has been scrapped entirely. This also seems to indicate thatKraven the Hunterwas the final straw that broke the studio’s back, and fans won’t be getting any more films featuring Spider-Man foes going forward outside of the MCU’s Holland-led films. This decision was made despite the project being marked for release on July 13, 2025, suggesting that significant progress would have already been made on production, especially if it was a live-action project like all the others.
It wasrumored that Sony was seriously considering selling theSpider-ManIP back to Marvel Studiosand scrapping all future plans for more spin-offs immediately following the abysmal performance of Kraven the Hunter, and this recent move to scrap the next planned film seems to lend more credence to that claim. While the company has seen a lot of success with theSpider-Mangames on PlayStation and theSpider-Verseanimated films centered around Miles Morales, the live-action failures of the past few years are certainly reason enough to consider letting go of the live-action film rights to the character as a way to recoup some of the losses brought on by the barrage of bad box office outings. A well-structured deal could see the company transfer rights back to Marvel while still getting to play out plans for the final installment of the animated trilogy and future video games, as well as continued collaboration on Holland’s future films. That last point might be contentious as Marvel Studios and Sony rarely see eye to eye on how to proceed with the character, a major factor currently slowing progress on the first film since the end of theHometrilogy.
While the failures of Sony’s films have been more than reason enough for any company to call it quits, the sheer value of Spider-Man as an IP means that fans should wait for official news before taking the company’s actions as proof that it’s over. Things aren’t entirely hopeless, thanks in part to Sony’s collaboration with Marvel. With a massive burst in fan demand thanks to his appearance inSpider-Man: No Way Homealongside Holland and Tobey Maguire,Garfield’sThe Amazing Spider-Man 3could potentially save Sony’s Spider-Man prospectsat the 11th hour. Whether the company takes that path or throws in the towel will be anyone’s guess until a public statement is made.
