With the MCU continuing its dominance via Disney+ and the DCEU expanding into new worlds with projects like Zack Snyder's Justice League and The Batman, comic book fans have a lot to be excited about. However, outside of these two worlds lies a third vein of superhero stories, those emanating from Sony Pictures.
Films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse and Venom are both Sony Pictures projects, with the latter jump-starting a new franchise of films. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is set to be the second film in the Sony Pictures Marvel universe, preceding the vampire thriller Morbius.
Connections between this universe and the larger MCU haven't yet been put in place, but producers at Sony, as well as Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, have indicated we might see some sort of crossover in the future.
SEQUEL SETBACK
According to a tweet from Aaron Couch of The Hollywood Reporter, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the sequel to 2018's symbiote smackdown, has been delayed to September 17, 2021. The film was originally set to release on June 25, 2021.
Venom: Let Their Be Carnage has moved back 3 months to 9/17/21
— Aaron Couch (@AaronCouch) March 17, 2021
COVID STRIKES AGAIN?
While little is currently known about the nature of this delay, it likely has something to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. During the past year, fans have seen numerous other films push their release dates back in response to the pandemic.
More significantly, however, back in September of last year, Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tony Vinciquerra actually commented that the company wouldn't be releasing any of their larger blockbuster films until the pandemic was over, making a June release date implausible.
Even though this seems the most likely reason for the delay, it's also possible that this decision was made to close the gap between the Venom sequel and the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home. The third Spider-Man film is headed to theaters just three months after Venom: Let There Be Carnage, possibly sowing the seeds for some sort of crossover between the films. Considering the multiverse elements likely to play a part in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it certainly seems possible that the two films could connect on some level.
Even so, Sony executives have teased the idea of a shared Sony/Marvel universe before, to no avail. These upcoming films could certainly be the ones to bridge the gap, but for now, it seems COVID is the primary force at play.
