After six years of flops and diminishing returns, Sony is saying farewell to its Spider-Man Universe (SSU).
According to a new report from The Wrap, Kraven the Hunter will likely be the final film in the polarizing SSU. Instead of building movies around characters associated with Spider-Man, Sony will now focus on projects directly connected to the friendly neighborhood superhero.
“They’ve developed what they want to develop for now,” a top talent agent told TheWrap. “It’s really about the next Spider-Man film.”
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Sony pivoted its Spider-Man strategy after The Sinister Six movie never materialized due to the disappointing returns from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Sony reached an agreement with Marvel Studios to collaborate and bring Spider-Man into the MCU. Additionally, Sony would develop its own MCU called the SSU, which was to be built around characters and villains related to Spider-Man.
The first film was 2018’s Venom, an origin story starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. Despite poor reviews, Venom became a smash hit financially, grossing over $856 million worldwide. The sequel, 2021’s Let There Be Carnage, did fairly well, grossing $506 million at a time when movie theaters struggled during the pandemic.
Other than the Venom movies, the SSU has failed to win over critics and audiences. Morbius and Madame Web flopped, while Kraven the Hunter‘s initial box office estimates are low. Why did the SSU fail? Besides not having Spider-Man, one insider cited the poor quality of the films as a reason for the universe’s downfall.
“The biggest issue with the Sony Spider-Man spinoffs seems to be the lack of quality control. The movies just aren’t good,” said a source in the Wrap’s report. “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.”
With the eventual end of the SSU, Sony will now turn its efforts toward its upcoming Spider-Man projects, including Spider-Man 4 starring Tom Holland, the animated Beyond the Spider-Verse, and the Spider-Noir television series with Nicolas Cage.
Kraven the Hunter opens in theaters on December 13.