Sony's Spider-Man Universe SSU concluded after Kraven the Hunter under performed and fans along with critics rejected many elements ending a chapter of the franchise with several negative high points after starting in 2017 with Venom. The Spider-Man Universe produced six films over a span of seven years showcasing villains and antiheroes without the presence of Spider-Man. The movie's inability to generate sustainable long-term success makes an argument for their closure with negative reviews and low ticket sales.
Ten Worst Moments from SSU Franchise Showcasing Recurring Issues
The series of SSU movies struggled with general quality particularly with storytelling causing unintentionally funny moments which many have labeled “cringe worthy” situations across the franchise. The mid-credits scene from Venom: The Last Dance initially set up Knull’s vengeance with plans for adaptation of a storyline however the end of Sony’s SSU cancelled any potential this had in franchise making it a disappointing setup with great potential left unfulfilled with MCU now a most probable destination for the Knull storyline. Morbius’ post-credits showcased Michael Keaton’s Vulture with Sinister Six teases, which offered confusion with no logic as he came over from the MCU universe, with an inability for this to now pan out with Sony ending the series.
Multiverse Mishaps and Character Debacles Define SSU’s Downfall
Venom Let There Be Carnage showed Venom in a multiversal transportation showing that Venom and Eddie Brock could be transported from one universe to another while acknowledging Tom Hollands Spiderman this later did not turn into anything meaningful causing disappointment for viewers due to no actual interaction with Spider-Man. The CGI battle during Morbius shows a terribly produced confusing and indiscernible fight scene when both main characters employ powers in CGI enhanced ways resulting in a mess that has an inability to show actual battle sequences with coherence. Madame Web includes a strangely delivered birth scene of Peter Parker that adds no true story purpose other than trying to tie movie within existing Spider-Man timelines creating only an unnecessary bizarre scene with very little entertainment.
Disappointment Over Underutilization of Iconic Female Characters Further Hinders Franchise
Madame Web’s false promise of the live-action debuts of the three Spider-Women in roles with powers turned out to not be truthful after the movie was shown in theaters. Cassie transforms during an underwhelming fight with the final moment becoming a silly and anti-climatic situation where an improbable accident leads to comic-accurate transformation due to firework incident. Kraven the Hunter revealed an incredibly bizarre method to hint at Spiderman's presence showcasing that the villain has severe arachnophobia creating a weak attempt to create a connection to Spider-Man when Sony decided not to use Tom Hollands rendition of Spider-Man. Morbius featured a very strangely timed dance sequence by the character Milo which lacked purpose and created cringe within the larger more edgier tone in the movie. The film’s worst aspect ended with its final line of dialogue in Madame Web when Cassie provides a meaningless and generic statement rather than provide deeper meaning during closing monologue which many labeled as "death knell" for series due to its pointlessness.
Fan Reaction: Sony Must Forfeit Spider-Man Rights and Marvel Must Have More Control
Numerous fan comments want Sony to lose their grip on Spider-Man movie rights, and a widespread understanding exists that Sony's attempt to make a franchise without using the hero did not work, as noted by a Marvel Studios subreddit discussions. The Kraven the Hunter movie showed a dramatic box office failure after several delays opening in third place after other bigger studio movies including Moana 2 and Wicked as an alternative form of movie options. Sony previously made the movie Venom starring Tom Hardy earning 213.5 million in US alone and 856.1 million worldwide creating false hopes of extended franchise viability which was also a cause for future disappointments.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe: A Rollercoaster of Box Office Performances and Creative Failures
Venom became the only positive in terms of overall box office numbers that started off strong however each movie since its first premiere lacked general cohesion often appearing to just be trying to mimic prior successes with diminishing numbers throughout the SSU’s duration. Venom: The Last Dance struggled significantly after earning lackluster critical reviews showing declining overall numbers 139 million domestic gross 475 worldwide. Other films like Morbius released in 2022 made a meagre $167 million worldwide highlighting the difficulties Sony had creating Spider-Man movies without using Spiderman. Madame Web released in 2024 made a total gross of $100 million while being seen as a strange production with extremely disappointing returns in worldwide revenue showing Sony’s inability to create new viable storylines in the Spiderman universe with or without Spiderman.
The Unpredictable Path of SSU: Sony's Struggle to Connect With Audiences
Sony has held movie rights for Spider-Man since 1999 showing some strong performances within the earlier trilogy films by Sam Raimi plus The Amazing Spider-Man movies with Andrew Garfield as the leading Spider-Man and also the successful animated Spider-Verse projects. Speculations are often seen on public platforms with rumors circulating that Sony will sell off all of these marvel rights following multiple under-performing releases yet this seems unlikely because they are already in development of Spider-Verse movies along with production on Amazon for live action Spider-Man Noir. Sony also shares Tom Hollands Peter Parker character with Marvel Cinematic Universe during a brokered agreement between the two production houses creating tension in its film direction.
Strategic Blunders and Missed Opportunities Highlight Sony’s Inability to build Strong Franchise
Sony had an apparent hope to build a viable franchise that didn’t rely on the flag-ship hero and it caused an absence in creative cohesiveness ultimately backfiring on many elements of film with each new iteration. Sony's Spider-Man Universe never created effective and clear connecting narratives and it never truly came together to show how storylines from different characters intersected with one another unlike their competitor at MCU. Multiple delays in releasing different movies are evident demonstrating clear missteps in studio management further exposing inability to plan a longer production that builds excitement rather than negative press or financial losses as seen in box office statistics with diminishing gross amounts. This caused negative press after each title further exposing issues at creative production levels within Sony studio productions while attempting to maintain viability in genre of film. Sony tried creating something in shared universe but missed mark with many of the elements used.
Studio's Struggle Amid "Superhero Fatigue" Highlights Creative Shortcomings in Sony’s Spiderman Series
The idea of superhero fatigue has impacted major studios as Marvel and DC are both managing lowered viewership even in major theatrical events and Sony hoped to capitalize on genre with superhero-based stories. Many have said that superhero fatigue is more from poor performance with low budget quality titles as opposed to actual aversion to concept with several Sony titles suffering financial downturn due to poorly produced final outputs lacking many required production standards for larger studio films. Many moviegoers seem unwilling to invest money into simply watching a film with superhero branding with high demand on studio productions and story writing that the audiences require before opening their pocketbooks. Sony struggled building their Spider-Man movie productions when other films show how to correctly produce superhero based film narratives that are both lucrative for studios and enjoyable for audiences.
Box Office Performance of the SSU: Ratings and Revenue Provide Stark Realities of Studio Management
SSU movies ratings and reviews are showing the low performance and lack of general cohesive plot lines with Venom the sole exception with a high audience reaction. Venom scored a low critic rating of 30% yet had high audience with 80%. Venom Let There Be Carnage showed slightly better scores with 57% from critics but maintained higher score from fans at 84%. Morbius was rejected universally at 15% by critics yet slightly better by audiences at 71%. Madame Web achieved 11% from critics with only 57% of audience. Venom The Last Dance only garnered 40% from critics and 81% from general public. Kraven the Hunter fell even harder in the ratings with 14% critic rating and 69% audience rating providing proof that Sony has serious production and management issues and no clear answers to remedy.
Financial Losses And The Potential of Future Spider-Man Adaptations
Sony clearly lacked viable answers and has shown significant downturn that could result in Marvel eventually getting full control of the Spider-Man Universe. While Marvel’s Kevin Feige and others claim to have answers to many fan problems Sony seemingly does not possess viable path. The option of Sony selling film rights to Marvel seems increasingly like a viable solution that is much more positive outcome to Sony rather than continue with further movie production attempts in superhero genre which has created poor output consistently with SSU franchise showing financial damage across many productions. Tom Hollands version is quite popular within Marvel Universe and yet even Sony’s productions are showing that only having the hero within another storyline with less budget is not working well for many audiences. Sony might decide to leave this type of film production after constant financial deficits from SSU and other recent endeavors.
Marvel's Superior Handling of Spider-Man and his characters Demonstrated in MCU Spider-Man Series
Marvel clearly handles Spider-Man stories better showing higher care and attention to the comic narratives with clear successful strategies showing their love for original comic books characters creating a distinct advantage to how MCU is run over Sony studios. Marvel’s Spider-Man movies show the hero’s development across time creating an extended story in 3 movie trilogy resulting in excitement from MCU fans awaiting future productions for Spiderman. Marvel Studios provides more resources to create a cohesive story unlike Sony whose many attempts were panned by general movie going audiences with shoddy creative direction. Marvel’s management clearly treats its many iconic comic characters better while staying true to their source materials in the creative process with story-telling. Marvel is seemingly held up creatively due to some shared legal parameters that could all be lifted if rights all shifted back to Marvel providing an amazing benefit to many productions and also for future titles and story arcs that fans hope to see someday soon.
Spider-Man's Return to Marvel Would Result in A Benefit to all fans Globally
Tom Hollands Spiderman may appear in Avengers Secret Wars but may be held back if Sony still maintains certain rights. Sony prevents certain Spider-Man characters from being used in MCU movies as was the case with Kraven who was initially intended for a MCU Spider-Man feature. A Spider-Man film that belongs fully in MCU allows creators more artistic freedom showing unlimited potential with familiar storylines and familiar characters being reintroduced into the MCU environment providing positive fan interactions and cohesive quality based narratives. With all rights returning back to marvel the whole world of the hero would open up creating joy for fans who had been previously underserved through limited story availability.
Kraven the Hunter storyline demonstrates how Sony simply missed mark when using the movie’s basic structure with no clear direction to help connect movies together from a longer and broader story scope as seen with Marvel studios success throughout their releases. Sony now faces the real possibility of having to relinquish all creative control to a studio that has demonstrated how to correctly produce stories to gain audience loyalty, create a viable cinematic universe and increase overall brand loyalty which seems to be a complete mystery to Sony studio. After release of Kraven The Hunter selling all Spiderman movie rights to marvel is not as impossible as previously anticipated showing studio might need to cut all losses before brand name is severely damaged.