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.
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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.
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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.