Spider-Man: No Way Home was Sony Pictures' biggest movie ever, grossing just shy of $2 billion at the worldwide box office. However, the studio has since delivered two critical and commercial flops with Morbius and Madame Web.
Talking to Deadline about Sony's upcoming slate of projects, Sony Motion Pictures Group Chairman Tom Rothman singled out Spider-Man 4, Venom: The Last Dance, and the undated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as three of their most must-see releases.
"I think a healthy slate going forward is not going to be one side of the divide or the other," he started. "It’s going to have a balance of big IP solid sequels. Let me tell you when the last of the Spider-Verse movies comes with Phil Lord and Chris Miller, it’s going to be a significant event, as will the next Tom Holland Spider-Man film."
"And when all the Karate Kid storylines come together with Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan and a new young karate kid. For those fans, that’s going to be a significant moment. We have those. The third and last Venom, is going to be huge."
Yes, that appears to be confirmation Venom: The Last Dance will be the final movie featuring the character.
Interestingly, Rothman made no mention of Kraven the Hunter. That's yet another Marvel movie from Sony which is expected to be terrible (the first trailer, featuring over-the-top violence and a weird CG Rhino received a largely negative response from fans).
"I have a very practical bit of Spider-Man advice, and I think every Spider-Man director goes through it," Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts recently shared for whoever helms Spider-Man 4. "It doesn't look good when someone is just swinging on a rope. You think you're gonna go in there, you're like, 'We're gonna do it all practical. We're gonna get a stuntman. We're gonna be swinging around.'"
"It's boring. It looks dumb. It looks like a monkey swinging on a vine when you put someone on just a rope. Don't waste your time. That's my advice to the next Spider-Man director."
Alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya is expected to reprise her role as MJ. Sydney Sweeny is rumoured to be playing Black Cat, while Scorpion and even the Spider-Slayers are all said to have been considered as Spider-Man 4's villains. Right now, The Kingpin sounds like a dead cert if social media's scoopers are to be believed.
The movie doesn't have a release date, though we're expecting it to arrive in theaters next year. However, as the weeks tick by, that's looking increasingly unlikely as there's still no word on a director or production start date.