Sony are nothing if not confident in their abilities to launch a sustained and successful Marvel universe, despite history being very much against the studio. Both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb’s time at the helm of a Spider-Man series collapsed under the weight of interference, with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 heavily compromised by trying to accomplish far too much worldbuilding in one swoop.
In fact, it was a second Spidey franchise falling apart that saw Sony strike the unprecedented character-sharing agreement with Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, which culminated in Tom Holland starring in five films to date, four of which earned over a billion dollars at the box office. Naturally, the studio were buoyed by those numbers, and for a brief spell in 2019, they took their ball and went home, withdrawing Spider-Man from the MCU in the process.
Fences have long since been mended, of course, but Sony are once more plowing ahead with the catchily-titled Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters. Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius are both in the can, Spider-Man: No Way Home is in post-production and Aaron Taylor-Johnson was cast as Kraven the Hunter just days ago.
Not only that, but in a new interview, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch made the bold proclamation that after audiences have seen Let There Be Carnage, they won’t be missing Spider-Man at all, even if he does go on to tease a crossover immediately afterwards.
“We don’t really think of our 900 characters as the Spidey-verse. We have a Marvel universe. The volume of characters we have, you know, wait until you see this next Venom. You don’t miss Spider-Man. It’ll be exciting if they do meet, right? There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it’s getting a little more clear for people where we’re headed and I think when No Way Home comes out, even more will be revealed.”
The latest rumors have pointed towards Spider-Man: No Way Home utilizing the Sony back catalogue to bring in the Sinister Six, and if those plans have been afoot for a while, then there might be some connective tissue or acknowledgement of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker when Venom: Let There Be Carnage arrives.