Sony Pictures may not be giving up on the SSU after all.
Earlier this week, we heard that the studio had pretty much called it a day with the Spider-Man spin-off franchise after the negative reception (both critically and commercially) of the latest instalment, Kraven the Hunter, but it sounds like they might be planning to forge ahead after making some major changes.
According to Deadline, Sony is "taking this misfire very seriously," and "has a reset in store."
We're not sure what this means for the projects that were either already in development or being discussed (Agent Venom, a Sinister Six movie, etc), but wouldn't be at all surprised if the studio went back to the drawing board and scrapped any ideas that may have been in place.
Is a franchise focused on Spider-Man characters without the iconic wall-crawler something even worth attempting to salvage? Many fans would say no, but there's no denying the success of the Venom trilogy (The Last Dance was the worst box office performer of the three, but still made a lot more than Morbius and Madame Web).
A recent report claimed that Sony was never actually prevented from including Spider-Man in the these movies, and simply figured that "audiences would not accept Tom Holland’s Spidey suddenly popping up in a live-action film that wasn’t a part of the MCU."
Adding the character to the mix in any future films could certainly turn things around. The actor has expressed interest in doing battle with Sony's stable of "villains" in the past, but whether he could be convinced to be a part of the next incarnation of the SSU after such a disastrous first attempt is another matter.
If all else fails (and so far, it has), Sony still has the animated Into The Spider-Verse movies. The studio is said to be “taking a lot of tender loving care” with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, but the final part of the trilogy will not release next year as previous reports have suggested.
What do you think? Would you be open to giving this franchise another chance after an extensive overhaul?
“Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.”
Kraven the Hunter is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is intended to be the sixth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The film was directed by J. C. Chandor and written by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk.
In addition to Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, Ariana DeBose will play Calypso, a voodoo priestess and Kraven's on-off love interest (in the comics, at least); Fred Hechinger is Dmitri Smerdyakov, aka the Chameleon, who is Kraven's half-brother; Alessandro Nivola will play Aleksei Sytsevich, aka the Rhino, and Christopher Abbott will portray another villain known as the Foreigner.
The movie has been rated R for "Strong bloody violence, and language."