One of Sony Pictures' Spider-Man universes is officially at an end, according to chairman Tim Rothman. Sony Pictures has long held the rights to Marvel's famed comic book character, Spider-Man, and his ancillary characters, but thanks to a deal with Marvel Studios, the character has also been allowed to dabble in the MCU. However, that hasn't stopped Sony from doing its own thing with the Spider-Man IP, including launching its own Spider-Man Universe (SSU) centered on the webslinger's villains.
The SSU began in 2018 when Sony released Venom, a film focused on Spider-Man's notorious villain, starring Tom Hardy. Five films followed over the next six years, with Dakota Johnson, Jared Leto, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson all leading films in the SSU, but none came close to the success Tom Holland's character was having on the big screen. Sony's Spider-Man Universe came to an apparent end with 2024's Kraven the Hunter, and now Rothman has confirmed it.
Speaking to Variety following the recent success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in theatres, Rothman said he was unsure about the future of the SSU, adding that they never thought of it as the "Sony-Marvel Universe." The chairman added that "at the moment, there are [no movies] in active development."
"Right now, we don’t know. We never looked at it as the 'Sony-Marvel Universe.' We looked at if there were worthwhile movies to make with other characters. At the moment, there are none in active development."
Rothman attributed the decline of the Sony Spider-Man Universe to the audience, saying they "[weren't] satisfied enough with them." The executive added that "the audience is the boss, and they didn't respond," which has led Sony to pause development on any further projects in the SSU:
"Ultimately, the audience wasn’t satisfied enough with them. Whether that’s a fair assessment of those movies, who knows. That’s howling into the wind. The audience is the boss, and they didn’t respond. It’s as simple as that."
While Venom performed admirably in 2018, reaching over $850 million at the global box office, the SSU saw a steady decline with each subsequent film release. The last film, Kraven the Hunter, earned only $62 million globally, signaling audience disinterest in the villain-centric Spider-Man universe. At one point, there were also ideas for Spider-Woman, El Muerto, and Hypno-Hustler films in development, but with Rothman's confirmation that nothing is currently in active development for the SSU, this six-year era of Spider-Man storytelling appears to be at an end.
Will Sony's Spider-Man Universe Be Revived?
While Rothman's recent comments suggest the SSU is over, that doesn't necessarily mean Sony Pictures is done experimenting in the Spider-Man Universe.
Earlier in the year, Rothman said that Sony was considering rebooting the SSU with new people, before adding that "you've got to make the audience miss you." This suggests the studio may give its non-Tom Holland Spider-Man projects a breather before attempting any sort of revival, particularly with superhero fatigue at play.
Elsewhere, the studio has seen some success on the television front with its live-action Spider-Noir series, starring Nicolas Cage as the noir-centric Spider-Man hero. While a Season 2 of that series has yet to be confirmed, the actors' contracts in Spider-Noir could make it possible.
While the SSU may be over, Sony's success with its Marvel Studios partnership certainly seems to have a long lifespan ahead of it, particularly following the huge box-office success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
