Before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to live up to Sony's expectations, the studio were planning spinoffs for both the Sinister Six and Venom, while rumours pointed to some sort of female led team-up movie and even a solo outing for a young May Parker. However, the wall-crawler entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe changed everything, but it sounds like they're not giving up on a "Spider-Verse."
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony boss Tom Rothman confirmed that they still hope to expand the wall-crawler world, but are glad to have handed the creative reigns over to Marvel when it comes to Spider-Man himself (whether they'll be involved in these spinoffs is unclear for the time being).
Since you teamed with Marvel, do you plan to make a whole Spider-Man universe? Do you have plans for more work with Marvel?
Yes to both those questions. It’s been fantastic, our relationship with Marvel.
Who has greenlight authority?
Sony has the ultimate authority. But we have deferred the creative lead to Marvel, because they know what they’re doing. We start shooting the new Spider-Manin Atlanta [in mid-June].
Do you want to trim the costs of that franchise?
I don’t want to trim costs. I want to make money. And sometimes you make money by trimming costs and sometimes by investing in things that are profitable. A movie like Spider-Man by Marvel, that’s not inexpensive. But it’s a great investment. Knowing that Marvel has such a clear, creative vision, I sleep very well at night.
We still don't know the finer points of the Marvel/Sony deal, but Sony sounds happy with what Marvel are doing right now (the response to the character in Captain America: Civil War was the best the hero has been received since the release of Spider-Man 2). Those spinoffs are still something of a worrying prospect, but for now, the future of this iconic superhero is looking better than it did two years ago.