Sony’s Spider-Verse Doesn’t Need Spider-Man (Yet)

Sony Spider-Verse Venom Spider-Man

There were doubts when Sony first announced Venom. Could the film work without Spider-Man? Will audiences even show up? Though the film ended up receiving pretty harsh reviews from critics, it managed to achieve symbiosis with audiences and crushed box office records opening way ahead of its initial tracking. Though we will have to wait and see how the film holds in the coming weeks, things are looking good at the box office for Venom currently. The film has grossed well over $200M worldwide currently with major markets such as China and Japan still to come. Though there’s room for improvement, I’d say that Sony has launched a Spider-Verse that can definitely work without Spider-Man. For the time being, at least.

While they’ve got also got Into the Spider-Verse on deck for this year and Spider-Man: Far From Home hitting theaters next summer, it’s going to be interesting seeing how they go about their other films after Venom. Will these be standalone films or will they end up connecting to one another somehow? We’re likely going to see very soon with their next film post-Venom, the Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) directed Morbius the Living Vampire starring Jared Leto. Producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach recently revealed that the film is looking to start filming next year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their other planned films which include Kraven The Hunter, Silk, and more get the green light soon as well. They’re even currently developing a Jackpot film. Yes. Jackpot. No, I’m not exactly sure how that one would work.

As for the other characters? I’ve seen plenty of doubt thrown around online but it doesn’t make sense that they couldn’t hold their own in live-action if they’ve each managed to have their own comic book series at some point. It really just comes down to how Sony approaches each of these properties and makes them stand out in the crowd. Don’t shy away from the horror elements when it comes to Morbius. Dive deep into the spy elements for Silver Sable. Go wild when it comes to Kraven. Figure out something to do with Jackpot. (I still have zero idea about how that one is going to work). But with Sony planning to experiment with the budget ranges and genres on some of these projects, there’s plenty of risks that they can take and hopefully they do. Comic books are weird and wacky. Swing for the fences and get wild with it. There’s a market for films that stand out and if you can make those and market them properly, I’m inclined to believe that audiences will be willing to give these films a shot.

That’s not to say that there isn’t room for improvement. While the audience reaction to Venom shows that they’ve got a foundation to build on, it won’t hold it up if their future films are weak. Hopefully, Sony sees what worked in Venom and what didn’t for the inevitable sequel. And that’s not to say that everything that critics didn’t like should be dumped but that maybe the sequel and their future films could use a little fine-tuning. There’s still plenty of time to polish the script for Morbius before that one heads into production next year if needed. You’ve got the potential here Sony, make sure you don’t squander it for the sake of rushing things out like some other cinematic universes.

And while they can have success without Spider-Man, I think it’s clear that Sony wants or intends to bring him into their big picture at some point. With their deal with Marvel Studios coming to an end after Spider-Man: Far From Home, could we see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man swing away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and into what Sony is setting up? He’s still got a film on his contract afterward and I’d be surprised if he wouldn’t be interested in extending it. There’s lots of chatter about them wanting Spider-Man to go toe to toe with Venom, so wouldn’t be surprised if they got that sequel in the works as soon as possible in order for that to happen at some point. Additionally, screenwriter Richard Wenk recently revealed that he had begun work on the Kraven The Hunter film, which would draw inspiration from Kraven’s Last Hunt and could potentially feature the web-slinger as well.

I’m sure that you have plenty of questions. I do too. But even though we seem to live in an age of wanting to know everything about these kinds of films as soon as possible, I’ve always been one to try and take the “wait and see” approach myself. So, let’s wait and see what Sony has in store. It could fail. It could succeed. But they definitely have the right tools to make this work and I wouldn’t be completely surprised if the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse and Far From Home might give us some clues regarding their future plans. Maybe. Let us know your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Shawn Madden

Shawn Madden

I write stuff. Sometimes.