Even considering that Spider-Man still stands as one of the most popular heroes in comics, his on-screen adventures are set to serve as some of the biggest movies of the next couple of years. The MCU is taking the biggest step on this front with December's Spider-Man: No Way Home while Sony Pictures has plans for multiple darker stories as well.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will follow up on Venom's billion-dollar box office haul from 2018 in September 2021, while Jared Leto is set to bring Morbius to the screen in early 2022. Additionally, former MCU star Aaron Taylor-Johnson recently signed with Sony to play the role of Kraven the Hunter in his own solo movie, which will come to theaters in January 2023.
Fans continue to wonder if these two universes will ever collide into each other in future installments. This was recently examined by one of Sony's top executives.
SONY PRESIDENT TALKS MCU CONNECTIONS
Sony Pictures President Sanford Panitch recently spoke with Variety about the company's use of Marvel characters in their Spider-Man movies, including their plans for the story going forward
Panitch described their possession of Marvel characters as "a Marvel universe" as opposed to looking at it as the "Spidey-verse." He even teased what fans should expect to see in the company's next movie, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, hinting that people "don't miss Spider-Man" in the story:
“We don’t really think of our 900 characters as the Spidey-verse. We have a Marvel universe. The volume of characters we have — you know, wait until you see this next ‘Venom.’ You don’t miss Spider-Man.”
Panitch looked ahead at potential tie-ins with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and other Sony-produced Marvel franchises, saying that "there actually is a plan" and that "it’s getting a little more clear for people" where the franchise is going. Sony and Marvel Studios' Spider-Man: No Way Home is even said to be a part of this, with Panitch saying "even more will be revealed" upon this film's debut:
“It’ll be exciting if they do meet, right? There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it’s getting a little more clear for people where we’re headed and I think when 'No Way Home' comes out, even more will be revealed.”
WILL THE MARVEL UNIVERSES COLLIDE?
It's widely known that Sony owns the rights to not only characters in the Spider-Man universe, but many others as well.
While the web-slinger himself wasn't part of 2018's Venom, Panitch seemed to emphasize that his absence doesn't take away from everything happening in 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage. With another epic symbiote battle set to take place between Venom and Carnage, fans will certainly be on the lookout for other notable Marvel heroes and villains to show their faces as well.
As for the plan Panitch teased in relation to the MCU, it's at least interesting knowing there is one in place even if no details have been shared yet.
If there's any movie that could potentially bring Sony's stories into the same canon path as the MCU, there seems to be no better place for it to start than Spider-Man: No Way Home. With the multiverse set to potentially blow wide open, the possibilities are certainly there for this kind of crossover to become a reality.
Sony will bring Venom: Let There Be Carnage to theaters on September 24, 2021. Marvel will follow up with Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters on December 17, 2021.
