Published on December 30, 2024 at 7:24
In news sure not to excite anyone in particular, Kraven the newest Hunter is now in theaters. The latest and most likely last live-action spin-off flick for Sony’s unfortunate cinematic universe is limping towards a humiliating beginning week-end with scathing reviews (in addition to IGN’s), marking an ignominious end for what’s been one of the worst years ever for the superhero genre. While no major superhero franchise is at its best right now, with the MCU struggling to get back to the heights of the Infinity Saga and Warner Bros. betting big on James Gunn’s upcoming Superman reboot to get DC back on track, none have been as consistently lackluster as the Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Or is it the Sony Universe from Question Letters (SUMC)?
Whatever this franchise was supposed to be called, it’s all but certainly over. This new Link recently reported that Sony Pictures is seeking to shutter this flailing enterprise after Kraven the Hunter so they can put all their focus on the upcoming Spider-Man 4 and Beyond the Spider-Verse. Good on them for cutting their losses and not subjecting us to any more of this nonsense, but the real question is: How did anyone think this was going to turn out differently? None of these movies were particularly good (sorry, Venom fans) and they all starred characters who are defined by their relationships to Spider-Man, a character they weren’t allowed to meet. This series was always going to fail, even if someone managed to wrangle a worthwhile movie out of the situation. Let’s take a look at why Sony’s Marvel Universe was doomed before it even started.
The newest Sony Universe has become a strange beast because of the bizarre rights problem it is obtainable during the. Sony Photographs holds the movie legal rights towards the Crawl-Guy franchise, but following the important and you can economic disappointment of your own Incredible Examine-People 2 in the 2014, Sony chose to display Spider-Man which have Wonder Studios and permit Peter Parker to help you swing towards the newest MCU, where he is once the come starred by the Tom Holland. But Sony had already started invention on the numerous twist-from systems inside the TASM months, such as Venom and Sinister Half a dozen video. Sony obviously wished to exploit more of the Wonder emails they got the means to access, nevertheless the centerpiece of one’s franchise, Spider-Guy, is actually today taking part in the online of what is theoretically their opponent.
The fresh solamente Spider-People films one showed up shortly after was an indication of your inactive-aggressive contract you to definitely Disney and Sony struck. Homecoming and far At home have been drowning from inside the sources towards greater MCU, making sure it will be hard for Sony to simply take-out of plan in place of hurtful admirers and you may shareholders who concern as to why Holland’s now very popular type of the character is actually no longer in the same community because their Avengers buddies, when you find yourself Not a way Household put brute push locate designs out of letters away from Sony’s low-MCU companies into the legitimacy into strength of the multiverse. But none of these change one to Sony’s connection to the brand new large Surprise brand name is remarkably you to-sided, something that also general audiences was basically capable of cluing in to.
The in association with Marvel logo that Sony was forced to use and the clear indication that they weren’t allowed to feature Spider-Man in their spin-off films created an omnipresent feeling of Sony’s films being a B-side to the MCU. Regardless of how many times Tom Hardy or others teased Venom meeting Spider-Man, the entire Venom trilogy emerged and you can ran without the two characters ever crossing paths. Same with Morbius, Madame Web sexy Buenos aires in Argentina girls, and now Kraven, with the closest thing to a proper Peter Parker appearance outside of Let There Be Carnage’s post-credits scene being him being born in Madame Web. It’s laughable that a cinematic universe filled with Spider-Man characters doesn’t actually have Spider-Man in it, but that fact ruined the series in more ways than one.