Spider-Man, arguably Marvel Comics' most iconic and recognizable character, was off limits to Marvel Studios for many years, until an unprecedented deal was struck with Sony Pictures.
This agreement allowed both studios to share the wall-crawler within the MCU, starting with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. As part of the deal, Kevin Feige and former Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal produced the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man films for Sony Pictures, and although it worked out very well for both parties, it did keep Holland’s Peter Parker from any Sony projects that aren’t officially part of the MCU.
We recently learned that the partnership "never precluded Sony from using Spider-Man in its movies that didn’t bear his name," but there was "a feeling within the studio that audiences would not accept Holland’s Spidey suddenly popping up in a live-action film that wasn’t a part of the MCU."
There are almost certainly a few aspects of the deal we haven't been made aware of, but one thing is for sure, Sony's attempt to develop a Spider-Man spin-off franchise without Spider-Man has not paid off. Although the Venom trilogy was successful (The Last Dance was the lowest-grossing of the three, but still performed pretty well), Morbius and Madame Web were not, and it looks like Kraven the Hunter is also destined for box office bomb status.
Despite one report claiming that Kraven will be the final SSU movie, Deadline believes the studio is actually planning to forge ahead after a "reset." However, they may be considering taking a drastic measure following the most recent box office disappointment.
According to scooper MTTSH, Sony is now "seriously considering" selling the Spider-Man IP back to Marvel Studios.
What would this mean for the character? Basically, it would allow Marvel to include Spider-Man in any future projects and develop solo Spidey movies featuring any and all of the hero's foes without any involvement from Sony Pictures.
Despite the SSU's failings, this deal has been very lucrative for Sony, who stand to rake it in after the upcoming Spider-Man 4 swings into theaters. With this in mind, we're not sure how much stock we put in this rumor, but there's a chance the trades will soon weigh-in with an update, so watch this space.
“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."