It looks like Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff universe may have come to an end after films like Madame Web, Morbius, and Kraven the Hunter failed to satisfy audiences.
Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman confirmed its corner of Marvel moviemaking is currently without a plan during an interview with Variety. While the Venom trilogy starring Tom Hardy generally managed to find success at the box office, the critical and commercial reception for projects like Madame Web (2024) and Kraven the Hunter (2024) has the company reconsidering their future.
“Right now, we don’t know,” Rothman said when asked if there are plans to expand on Sony’s universe of Spider-Man characters. “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.”
Rothman elaborated, saying that “the audience wasn’t satisfied enough” with the live-action movies that filled out what many referred to as the “Sony-verse.” Starting with Hardy’s Venom in 2018, the full roster included that film, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter. Although Sony had, at one point, planned to integrate Spider-Man into the villain-led offshoots, such a crossover never came to fruition.
Kraven arrived as the final attempt to gain traction amongst comic book movie fans when it premiered in December 2024, but like many of the other Sony Spider-Man spinoffs, it failed to make an impact. Starring Marvel alum Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the film opened as the worst-performing entry in the Sony Marvel film series, with reviewers – including IGN – walking away less than impressed.
Despite the memes made along the way, it sounds like the poor performance has Sony rethinking how it uses these characters. Rothman’s words today suggest his reboot teases from earlier this year might be on hold for a long while to come, if they materialize at all, after the movies failed to connect with audiences the first time around. At least there’s still an animated Venom movie on the way.
“Whether that’s a fair assessment of those movies, who know,” Rothman added, touching on the lack of impact on audiences. “That’s howling into the wind. The audience is the boss, and they didn’t respond. It’s as simple as that.”
For now, the main Spider-Man universe is going strong. Spider-Man: Brand New Day just broke records in theaters, prompting Rothman to take a shot at the anti-theater sentiment that’s driven conversations amongst moviegoers the last few years. For more, you can check out IGN’s full breakdown for every Spider-Man universe movie in development.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
