Sony’s most recent attempt to mine the depths of the ‘Spider-Man’ mythos for interesting characters, “Kraven the Hunter,” is arriving later this week. And with it, according to a new report, is the end of Sony’s ‘Spider-Man’ spinoff universe. At least for the foreseeable future.
READ MORE: The 20 Best Films Of 2024
According to a new report from The Wrap, Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” marks the last “Spider-Man” spinoff film the studio has in development. The studio is now going to focus on its Spider-Man-forward productions like “Spider-Man 4,” “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” and “Spider-Noir.”
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025
So, why would Sony put an end to the ‘Spider-Man’ spinoff films? All you really have to do is look at the box office for the films to know that answer. “Morbius” and “Madame Web” were absolute bombs when they were released. “Kraven the Hunter” is projected to follow suit. And the only one that seems to be profitable for Sony is “Venom,” and that franchise has faced a decline since the first one did so well 6 years ago.
Obviously, box office plays a huge role in these decisions, but really all of this stems from Sony’s baffling decision to make ‘Spider-Man’ spinoff films without actually including Spider-Man. Again, it didn’t seem to hamper “Venom” (at least not at the beginning), but by avoiding Spider-Man in the other films, they just fell flat.
The report claims that Sony is now going to lick its wounds and focus on projects that actually have a Spider-Man link to them. Marvel Studios and Sony are going to enter production on “Spider-Man 4” in 2025. ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ remains in production, with no release date set. And ‘Spider-Noir’ began filming this fall and is likely going to be released in late 2025 or early 2026. No other ‘Spider-Man’ projects seem to be on the horizon, at least for now.
Ultimately, the release of “Kraven the Hunter” is going to be seen as the end of an era. An era that led to Sony losing all sorts of money. Let’s just hope the studio learned its lesson.
