With Disney and Sony agreeing to part ways after the success of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” fans have been looking to either studio for signs of optimism. For Sony, these past few weeks have been a valuable time to demonstrate decisive leadership and a long-term vision for the character. Given the average returns on the Marc Webb movies, a little insight from Sony – both regarding the role of Spider-Man and the slow, sustained growth they have mapped out for his future – would go a long way towards building up some goodwill with their audience. What you probably shouldn’t do? Announce you have a half-dozen other projects in work before the ink on the divorce papers are even dry.
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Recently, Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra shared his thoughts on the future of the franchise at the Variety Entertainment & Technology summit. On the surface, his speech is about as revealing as a post-breakup Facebook post – “Kevin Feige has been an important part of my life,” “I’ll always cherish the time we had together,” polite comments of that nature – but the Sony boss did let one curious piece of information slip. When running down a list of upcoming properties set in the ‘Spider-Man’ universe, Vinciquerra highlighted the upcoming “Venom“ sequel, Jared Leto‘s Morbius movie, and the surprising reveal of “five or six” television shows set in the ‘Spider-Man’ universe. For Tony Vinciquerra, these projects are proof that Spider-Man will do “just fine” outside the MCU, which, I dunno, agree to disagree, I guess.
READ MORE: ‘Venom 2’ Director Andy Serkis Has “Very Clear Ideas” For The Sequel
This, of course, isn’t the first time that Sony has had ambitious plans for a ‘Spider-Man’ universe. Back when Andrew Garfield wore the tights, Sony was hell-bent on creating a “Sinister Six“ movie with Drew Goddard; it was also just a few years ago that Sony was hard at work on both “Silver & Black,” a superhero heist movie with ‘Spider-Man’ regulars Black Cat and Silver Sable, and “Silk,” a film about a Korean-American classmate of Peter Parker who develops powers comparable to his own. “Silver & Black” even had an impressive director attached – Gina Prince-Bythewood, whose 2014 drama “Beyond the Lights“ was well-received by critics – before the project was scrapped for individual, standalone films for both characters. While Amy Pascal claimed just a few months ago that Sony had “big plans” for the character, it’s hard to imagine that the return of Spider-Man to the ‘Spider-Man’ universe won’t change things fundamentally behind the scenes.
READ MORE: ‘Venom’ Producer Hilariously Explains Why ‘Morbius’ Won’t Need An R-Rating
Given the number of scripts and story ideas floating around the Sony servers, some of these characters may find their way into film adaptations or a television series. That being said, Sony’s track record with ‘Spider-Man’ movies is hardly something to get excited about. Forgive me if I don’t count any of these particular Spider-Chickens as hatched until the opening credits are rolling.
Matthew is a Philadelphia-based film critic and the co-founder of Certified Forgotten. You can find his writing at publications like The Playlist, Inverse, Polygon, IGN, and more. When not writing about horror movies, he can often be found obsessing over horror comics or roleplaying games.
