Apart from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony has released its own movies featuring Marvel characters from the Spider-Man universe in recent years. They didn’t receive much acclaim from the community. However, they must perform well if they want to retain the character.
Even though Spider-Man is probably the most iconic character from Marvel, he is only borrowed in the Marvel films. The film rights to Spider-Man actually belong to Sony Pictures Entertainment. This includes specific characters from the web-slinger like Venom, Mary Jane, or James Jonah Jameson.
Sony itself lends
Spider-Man to the MCU, so to speak. They collaborated in 2017 to introduce a new hero, played by Tom Holland, with Spider-Man: Homecoming. This arrangement continues to this day. Although there was a dispute in 2019, they were able to come to an agreement, as Variety reported back then.
However, for the rights that Sony has held for over 20 years, they must also deliver. This is probably one of the reasons why one of the strangest film universes of all time exists.
Sony and the Acquisition of Spider-Man
How did Sony even acquire the rights? Even though Marvel is a big name in the film and series landscape today, it was quite different in the 1990s. In 1999, the comic publisher was in a financially tough situation. To counteract this, they sold the film rights to some characters.
Sony acquired Spider-Man, even though they were offered all characters. They paid 5.9 million euros. For Sony, the deal was very worthwhile at the beginning, but as Forbes reports, the contract at that time also had certain requirements.
In 2014, Sony was hacked, and a contract was leaked at that time. Forbes quotes the contract, explaining that Sony probably has to release new films every 5 years and 9 months for the rights to remain with the company. If Sony releases 3 films in 8 years, they can take 7 years off.
While the contract may have changed, Sony still holds the rights. Although Spider-Man is absent from the latest films, there was still a Spider-Man film universe.
The Spider-Man Universe without Spider-Man
How does Sony continue to retain the rights? If the contract is still valid, Sony must continue to release Spider-Man productions. This is probably one of the reasons for the so-called Sonyverse
(Sony’s Spider-Man Universe). This refers to the Sony films about Spider-Man characters that have been released since 2018, which have received quite poor reviews from critics:
- Venom (2018) has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 31% based on 365 reviews.
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 58% based on 283 reviews.
- Morbius (2022) has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 15% based on 287 reviews.
- Madame Web (2024) has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 10% based on 269 reviews.
- Venom: The Last Dance (2024) has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 40% based on 225 reviews.
- Kraven the Hunter (2024) has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 15% based on 160 reviews.
Although the films have solid user scores, most (except for Venom) were not particularly successful at the box office. Kraven the Hunter, the latest film, earned only about 53 million euros, according to IMDb, with an estimated budget of 93 million euros. That’s quite a hard flop.
Even though the films about Spider-Man characters without Spider-Man seem quite strange, it makes sense if they want to keep the brand. Spider-Man is one of the most recognized Marvel characters. The third film in the MCU, No Way Home
, earned about 1.6 billion euros (via IMDb), making it the third most successful Marvel film. Sony, as the production company, also profits significantly from this (source: IGN).
What does MeinMMO film editor Nikolas Hernes say about the Sonyverse
? Even though I had fun with the Venom films, the idea of creating a Spider-Man universe without Spider-Man is not very well thought out.
Most villains work because of their dynamic with the hero, and not just as villains themselves, especially if they weren’t known to the audience beforehand. Morbius and Madame Web are not exactly well-known Marvel villains that are culturally relevant.
If the films are moderately received or poorly received, they can only fail. Sony should focus on projects like the animated Spider-Verse or ideas like Spider-Noir.
Spider-Man Will Continue to Hit Theaters (and Streaming)
What’s next for Sony and Spider-Man? Currently, no further films for the universe featuring Kraven, Madam Web, and Morbius are planned. However, Sony continues to bank on the web-slinger. The third part of the Spider-Verse animated series is set to be released in 2027. The previous two films were not only successful, but also really good.
But Sony is also heading in a new direction with streamers. With Spider-Noir, a new series featuring Nicolas Cage as an anti-hero in a different universe will be released on May 27.
On the Marvel and Disney side, fans can also expect new content. Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released on July 30, 2026, continuing the story of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. This year, the animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is also expected to continue on Disney Plus.
But how do you find the Sonyverse
? Did you enjoy watching them, or were they indifferent to you? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. There are many variants of Spider-Man, but some of them will probably never make it to the big screen: 7 absurd variants of Spider-Man that will never get their own Marvel movie
