Sony's Spider-Man Universe is dwindling further following the reported cancellation of another Marvel film in its slate. Sony has long held the rights to Spider-Man and his associated Marvel characters, but due to a deal with Marvel Studios for Tom Holland's Spider-Man, the studio has resorted to using side characters in Spider-Man's Marvel canon to headline films instead. The results of this (including Morbius, Venom, and Madame Web) haven't set the world alight in the same way as the MCU, and plans for future Sony Spider-Man Universe films have steadily been axed.
Now it's been reported that another Spider-Man spin-off on Sony's slate has been cut, with entertainment insider Daniel Richtman reporting on his Patreon that the Spider-Woman film is dead. The movie was announced in 2020, with Olivia Wilde (then-director of Booksmart) set to bring Jessica Drew to the big screen for the first time. The film has seen little movement in the past five years and now appears to have been scrapped entirely.
This move comes on the back of Kraven the Hunter's bomb at the box office in 2024, which signalled the death knell of Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Spider-Woman is one of several Spider-Man spin-offs that Sony has shelved since it gained the rights to the Marvel superhero and began building its own connected cinematic franchise.
All the Sony Spider-Man Films That Were Canceled
The Sinister Six
Before the MCU launched Tom Holland as the big screen's Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield was the face of Sony's Spider-Man films. Despite Sony only greenlighting two The Amazing Spider-Man films, there were once plans for a spin-off Sinister Six film set in the same universe, which would have united Spider-Man's deadliest foes into one villainous league.
In 2013, Sony attached Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods) as the writer/director for the Sinister Six film, which was part of a new plan to expand the Spider-Man universe around Garfield's character. Garfield confirmed in a 2021 Collider interview that he'd had conversations with Goddard about his role in the film, but nothing ever came of it.
The MCU almost achieved the Sinister Six dream in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which united five Spider-Man villains from different generations of films (Electro, The Lizard, Sandman, Green Goblin, and Doctor Octopus) to fight Holland, Garfield, and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Men.
Nightwatch
With the rights to Spider-Man tied up in the MCU, Sony attempted to launch its own hero in a Nightwatch film. Nightwatch is a lesser-known Marvel vigilante who wears an advanced tech suit to fight crime.
The movie was in development in 2017 with Spike Lee being circled to direct. Although by 2019, the director had detached from the film, and it subsequently hit the shelf.
Silver Sable
A Silver Sable film (which was once intended to be a duo movie with Black Cat) would have brought the long-time mercenary ally, sometimes enemy, of Spider-Man to the big screen for the first time.
After years in development and several format shifts, writer Lindsey Anderson Beer confirmed in 2023 that they were no longer actively developing the Silver Sable project, leaving its status unknown.
El Muerto
One of the more recent Sony Spider-Man spin-offs to enter development is Bad Bunny's El Muerto. The rapper was set to play the superhuman wrestler, and development on the movie moved quickly, with Bad Bunny even appearing at CinemaCon in 2022 to announce a 2024 release date for the film.
During the 2023 Guild strikes, El Muerto was pulled from the schedule and hasn't returned since. It was reportedly still in development alongside Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter as of 2024, but following the lacklustre response to those films, all of Sony's Spider-Man spin-off films seem to have been put on ice.
