This Friday, Kraven the Hunter will be released in theaters and, if early box office projections and online buzz are anything to go by, interest in the movie is minimal at best.
To put it bluntly, it feels like no one cares about this movie or what's become known as "Sony's Spider-Man Universe." It's hard to blame them after the past six years - the franchise launched with 2018's Venom - and it's time to take the studio to task for how it's failed these characters.
In this feature, we take a deep dive into where things have gone wrong for this shared world. Those range from one too many liberties with the source material, shining a spotlight on the wrong characters, and the way Sony has destroyed any trust fans have in them with a series of infuriatingly stupid creative decisions.
You can read through our issues with Sony's Marvel Universe by clicking on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
5. Taking Too Many Liberties With The Source Material
No comic book movie or TV show is 100% comic-accurate; changes need to be made during the process of adapting these stories and, a lot of the time, those are for the best. With Sony's Marvel movies, that's rarely the case.
The Venom trilogy is undeniably entertaining, but that version of Eddie Brock has little to nothing in common with his comic book counterpart. We can't blame the studio for making Madame Web a little younger, but what even was that movie? And why did Morbius' simple yet effective origin story need to be so hopefully convoluted on screen?
In the case of Kraven the Hunter, as much as we'd love to see him battle Spider-Man, he's probably one of those rare villains who can headline a solo outing. And yet, the upcoming movie is going to make him an ultraviolent vigilante who sets out to dismantle his father's criminal empire. Why?!
With decades of Spider-Man stories to pull inspiration from, we simply do not know why Sony thinks it's a good idea to keep doing its own thing.
4. Focusing On The Wrong Characters
We can surely all agree that it's for the best Marvel Studios remains in charge of Tom Holland's Peter Parker. However, if Sony is determined to continue cashing in on Spider-Man beyond his MCU franchise, then why are they focusing on all the wrong characters?
Venom makes sense...even if he is at his best when pitted against the wall-crawler. However, why we're being forced to sit through the likes of Morbius and Madame Web is impossible to fathom, particularly when Ben Reilly, Spider-Gwen, Kaine, Black Cat, and Spider-Girl are all ripe for the plucking.
Rather than take us to a future timeline Mayday Parker calls home, we're getting a Spider-Noir TV series with Ben Reilly under the mask. He's not Peter's clone, though; they've just changed his name because...reasons.
There are heroes and villains in Spider-Man's world who can exist without him. So far, Sony has decided to primarily focus on those that can't.
3. Where The F*** Is Spider-Man?!
We're not using this article to campaign for Sony to bring Spidey into its mediocre Marvel Universe. That's a horrifying, upsetting prospect and one that would surely doom the wall-crawler to Avi Arad's mid-2000s vision for superheroes.
However, while Marvel Studios can do right by Peter Parker in the MCU, why can't Sony make use of a different web-slinger? Miles Morales is one possibility, but then so is Spider-Man 2099 (sent back in time, perhaps?), Spider-Woman, Silk, and the clone known as Ben Reilly who we mentioned above.
Moviegoers aren't dumb and could easily figure out this is a different world and Spider-Man; it could be that Peter has fallen or simply a reality where Jessica Drew, for example, took his place.
Instead, Sony would rather tell stories where Peter Parker is born while the likes of Spider-Woman, Araña, and Ezekiel Sims are already swinging around New York City. Then there are the movies that tease Spidey, only for nothing to come of it. What a way to win over fans, eh?
2. Once Bitten, Twice Shy
By now, perhaps you feel we've been too harsh. Shouldn't we give Kraven the Hunter a chance? Director J.C. Chandor has already pled with fans to do just that, but everything we've seen from the movie looks terrible (even if Sony thinks we'll all be swayed by some bloody action scenes).
Taken as their own thing, the Venom movies are good dumb fun. When you look beyond the surface, though, how can any fan not be upset by Eddie Brock diving into a fish tank full of lobsters rather than being the vengeful journalist who sets out to torment and kill Spider-Man?
Morbius was Morbius in name and appearance only and hampered by extensive reshoots which made it look and feel like a complete mess.
With Madame Web, Sony fooled us into thinking we were getting a movie with major implications for the wider Marvel Universe, only to start calling it a "standalone" tale shortly before it was released. And guess what? They've done the same with Kraven the Hunter, so all those teases about him becoming a villain and an eventual Kraven's Last Hunt adaptation are meaningless.
1. Too Many Bizarre Creative Decisions
In case our last point didn't make it clear, Sony has obliterated our trust in them over the past few years. Whether it's Venom's pointless trip to the MCU, trailers that promise more than the movies deliver, or teases that go nowhere, "Sony's Spider-Man Universe" is a disaster.
The Morbius trailers featured Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man but wiped him from the finished cut. Sony sh*t all over Spider-Man: No Way Home just to bring The Vulture into this world for a team-up with the Living Vampire. And, in Kraven the Hunter, Rhino will be a mutant monster.
It's easy to forgive the odd mistake or questionable decision - even Marvel Studios has made some of them - but this consistent level of stupidity has obliterated any goodwill or faith fans have in these franchises.
So, no, we don't care about Kraven the Hunter because even if Chandor and Aaron Taylor-Johnson have given it their all, why should we? Sony has proven it can't be trusted and, to put it bluntly, this long-delayed movie just looks bad.