By the beginning of 2025, Sony had released six movies in its (at one point called) Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or SPUMC. With the exception of Venom and to a much lesser degree its sequels, the films were an unmitigated disaster, critically and financially. After Kraven from December 2024, Sony said it would be slowing down those films. Now, Sony and Marvel Studios have the exact opposite of a Madame Web with the genuinely very good Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which set a new opening weekend record.
In the wake of this huge win for both studios, Sony chief Tom Rothman answered questions from Variety about the failure of the previous films and future films in the Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movie series. His answers were very telling.
I was curious about the status of Sony’s Marvel characters because —
You and everybody else.
The “Venom” trilogy was huge, but other spinoffs like “Kraven the Hunter” and “Madame Web” were misfires. Why didn’t those work?
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.
Are there plans to keep developing Sony’s universe of Marvel characters?
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.
Naturally, Rothman isn’t going to say “yeah we made a mistake with those movies,” but I think the admission that “the audience is the boss and they didn’t respond” lets us know that, clearly, Spider-Man movies without Spider-Man don’t work. And even Venom only really worked once.
The second quote I think is even more intriguing. “We never looked at it as the ‘Sony-Marvel Universe.’” This, coupled with Marvel’s Kevin Feige saying post-Avengers: Secret Wars will “establish a streamlined, simplified, single universe that’s easier for audiences to follow” really makes it seem like Sony’s Spider-Man will be Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man after Secret Wars.
It will clearly be the best thing for both studios involved. Marvel Studios’ only real successes since Avengers: Endgame have been the Black Panther sequel, Deadpool & Wolverine, and three Spider-Man movies. (And, for some reason, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.) The X-Men are a priority for Marvel going forward, but so too must be Spider-Man. I think Sony thought they could have their own version of the MCU, but without Spider-Man, they don’t have much.
Will we get more Spider-Man movies? Without a doubt. Will those movies have ties to the MCU? Who can say? But, I think both studios would be foolish not to see the audience is responding.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.
The post Sony Chief on the Future of Their Marvel Movies appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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