A Marvel movie centered on a major villain from the comics has reportedly been shelved, with production stopping before it even begins. The greater Marvel universe had had more than its fair share of difficulties, including the MCU suffering through plenty of box office problems over the last three years. However, this is far from the only Marvel franchise having issues, as another set of movies has been struggling for even longer.
A new rumor indicated that Sony Pictures has paused plans for development on its rumored Knull movie. Reported by insider Daniel Richtman, the studio, in association with Marvel, is also said to be putting a hold on all of its plans for live-action Spider-Man spin-offs from Sony's Spider-Man Universe. This comes after Sony released three new movies (Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter) in 2024, none of which performed particularly well critically or financially.
Knull was initially introduced as an overarching villain in the Venom franchise behind a performance from comic book movie veteran Andy Serkis. Only playing a minor role in Venom: The Last Dance, Knull is known as the king of the symbiotes, with all symbiotic beings in the universe (like Venom, Toxin, Scream, and more) being derived from him. This film likely would have explored his origin and rise to power, showing how he created all symbiote life and ruled over his home planet with force.
Now, Sony's Spider-Man universe ends after a six-year run in theaters, with the franchise including the Venom trilogy, Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter. No movie in this franchise had a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of over 57%, and overall, all six movies only grossed a combined $2.1 billion at the box office. Ahead is every other movie said to be paused with this move from Sony Pictures:
Every Marvel-Sony Movie That's Now Seemingly on Pause
Hypno Hustler
Initially announced in 2022 (per The Hollywood Reporter), Spider-Man: Homecoming's Donald Glover was set to take on a new role in the greater Spider-Verse with a Hypno Hustler movie. At the time, there was no script or director, but the movie was set to be written by Myles Murphy (son of movie legend Eddie Murphy).
First appearing in 1978, the Hypno Hustler was an obscure villain whose abilities allowed him to hypnotize his victims by playing his guitar. His alter ego is Antoine Desolin, the lead singer of a band called the Mercy Killers; this band is made up of criminals, too, as they use their music to rob their audiences. Following the film's initial announcement, no further development on the movie was reported on.
El Muerto
At CinemaCon 2022, Sony Pictures announced plans for a movie called El Muerto, which was set to star two-time Grammy-award-winning rapper Bad Bunny in the titular role. Having only made a dozen appearances in the comics, El Muerto was a super-powered wrestler whose father was killed by a magical wrestling god, with that entity threatening to kill El Muerto if he did not go down the path of a hero.
Along with never enlisting a director and the script going through multiple rewrites, the film faced other problems during development, including Bad Bunny's touring schedules conflicting with the original filming dates for the film. Now, after doubts about El Muerto's viability coming at every turn, this vision is not expected to see the light of day.
Jackpot
First reported in 2020, Sony had enlisted Arrowverse creator Marc Guggenheim to write a movie centered on the little-known Marvel heroine Jackpot. Originally depicted as Sara Ehret, a pregnant scientist working on gene therapy to cure Parkinson's disease, she is exposed to a virus that rewrote her DNA and gave her superpowers like superhuman strength and agility.
Unfortunately, in the time since this movie was first announced, fans heard no updates on development for what would have been Jackpot's first experience in the Hollywood spotlight.
Olivia Wilde's Untitled Movie
Shared with the public in August 2020, Sony reportedly hired Don't Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde to direct an untitled superhero movie for Sony's Spider-Man Universe. While nothing specific was confirmed for the lead character or plot, rumors pointed to the film being one centered on Jessica Drew's Spider-Woman.
In the time since, Wilde has taken on multiple other movies, and no further development was made on her efforts in the Spider-Man universe.
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.
