The latest Spider-Man spin-off from Sony's Spider-Man Universe was hit with yet another release delay.
It's no secret that Sony Pictures has not had an easy run with its superhero universe, especially after 2024's Madame Web became a massive critical and financial flop (see the biggest criticisms about the film here).
Still, the studio has every intention of pushing this franchise forward with two other Spidey spin-offs still coming in 2024, hoping to stand strong against competition like Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine.
Sony Spider-Man Movie Faces Another Delay
Sony Pictures officially confirmed that the theatrical release of Kraven the Hunter was delayed until December 13.
The new Sony Spider-Man spin-off was last set for release on August 30, although it was originally meant to arrive more than a year earlier on October 6, 2023.
This is quite a surprise for Sony-Marvel fans as a report from October 2023 noted that Kraven was amongst the movies that would be "first in line to get attention" after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended.
Kraven the Hunter was only said to need "minor reshoots" and automated dialogue replacement work before it was ready for theaters.
This means Sony's next movie to hit theaters will be Venom: The Last Dance, which will be released on October 25.
Will Sony's Spider-Man Universe Survive?
Although Sony has seen financial success with Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (see the record Venom 2 broke), viewers are well aware of the difficulties the studio has seen with its live-action superhero films.
2022's Morbius had the worst opening weekend for a superhero film since 2020's The New Mutants, leading to the movie becoming arguably the most mocked film of that year.
The writers from that film then moved on to Madame Web, which saw disappointingly similar success. After so many letdowns, some fans jumped off the Sony bandwagon.
For reference, below are the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer scores for all of the movies in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe to date in release order:
- Venom - 30%
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 57%
- Morbius - 15%
- Madame Web - 12%
Sony already appears to be changing things up from Kraven's origin story for his solo movie, showing an insane amount of power for this superhuman after an interaction with a lion in the wild.
Whether the franchise will last after this movie's release is a mystery, although Sony will surely do anything it can to keep the rights to its most successful movie property.
Kraven the Hunter will now hit theaters on December 13.
Read more about Sony's Spider-Man projects below:
Why Did Beyond the Spider-Verse's Release Date Get Removed from Sony’s Slate?
Sony Reveals the Plan for Next 3 Upcoming Spider-Man Movies
Sony's Cancelled Sinister Six Movie Had 1 Insane Spider-Man Scene (Confirmed)