Spider-Man is one of the most popular comic book characters to have ever existed. That’s why Sony were pleased that they were able to secure the movie rights to the character in 1998 by paying a failing Marvel Studios just $7 million. However, Sony came back to Marvel to make a deal that let both companies share the character in 2014, when Sony was struggling to make the character successful and Marvel were breaking box-office records with their MCU movies.
This deal has worked out well for both companies. However, it has meant that Sony has had to shift gears with their Spider-Man shared cinematic universe. Instead of revolving around Spider-Man, their new Marvel movies now feature villains and other heroes from the Spider-Man comics that they own. This shared movie universe is still going, and they have a few big Marvel projects coming up.
5 Venom 3: The Last Dance
Concluding The Tom Hardy Trilogy
- Release Date: October 25, 2024
The most successful movie that Sony has made with Spider-Man IP is 2018’s Venom. This first movie made over $800 million at the box office, and featured a zany story in which the iconic symbiote bonds with journalist Eddie Brock to help take down another villainous alien threat. In the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Venom faced off with his most famous enemy, Carnage. Unfortunately, this movie was less successful than the first, mainly because it was released at the end of the pandemic in 2021.
Sony are optimistic about this property, though, as Venom 3 has been given the go-ahead for release in late 2024. Not much is known about the movie, other than Tom Hardy is returning to play Eddie and voice Venom. However, the title does suggest that this will be the last movie to star this version of the Spider-Man villain as the lead character.
4 Kraven The Hunter
The Debut Of One Of Spider-Man’s Main Villains
- Release Date: December 13, 2024
Kraven the Hunter has been a long time coming. The movie was supposed to release in October 2023, but the actors’ strike pushed it back a year. The movie was pushed back again to December, when Sony chose not to open the movie at the same time as The Karate Kid. However, the trailers so far suggest that this movie will feature a different version of Kraven than fans are used to.
Instead of being a big game hunter in Africa, this new version of Kraven will be a younger man (played by Aaron Taylor Johnson), who gets powers from a lion bite when hunting with his dad (Russel Crowe). The plot of this R-rated superhero movie will likely follow Kraven as he uses his powers to dismantle his father’s evil empire.
3 Beyond The Spider Verse
The Conclusion To One Of The Best Superhero Trilogies Of All Time
- Release Date: Unknown
The first two movies in Sony’s animated spider-verse saga have been huge hits with fans. Starring Miles Morales as Spider-Man, these movies have followed the character as he navigates his powers and the multiverse. Through his adventures, he meets and clashes with other versions of Spider-Man and their villains. The second movie in the series, Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse, ended on a cliffhanger, and so fans are eagerly waiting for this third installment of the series.
Beyond The Spiderverse was supposed to release in 2024, but the writer’s and actor’s strikes pushed the movie back indefinitely. Right now, there is no news about when the movie will release, but the plot will certainly pick up with the main cast as they were last seen.
2 Spider-Man 4
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Still Exists In The MCU
- Release Date: Unknown
It’s hard for some fans to understand, but both Sony and Marvel Studios have shared control of the character. Therefore, both companies have a creative hand in the Spider-Man movies that exist within the MCU. With Tom Holland’s last Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, making over $1 billion at the box office, it’s clear that the MCU is willing to go forward with another sequel.
With Peter Parker being left all alone and forgotten at the end of the last movie, there are plenty of storytelling possibilities left open in Spider-Man 4. Many fans have even speculated that this movie will include both Daredevil and Kingpin. Sadly, there is no release date or title for Spider-Man 4 yet, but Marvel have assured viewers that it will come out before the next Avengers movie in 2026.
1 El Muerto
An Odd Decision Is Still On The Horizon
- Release Date: Unknown
With Spider-Man having one of the most interesting rogues galleries in comics, Sony have plenty of options when it comes to picking new characters to develop into a movie property. That’s when it came as a surprise when, in 2022, the studio announced that they would be making a movie based on El Muerto, and that the movie would star musician Bad Bunny.
El Muerto is a Mexican wrestler who once fought Spider-Man during the character’s days in the sport. That is all that is relevant about the character, and the movie has been canceled several times since its announcement. The project is back on track now, but Sony have not announced when fans should expect El Muerto to hit theaters.
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