Sony Pictures has officially announced a shift in its approach to the Spider-Man franchise, signaling an end to its Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU). After several years of attempting to build an interconnected universe around Spider-Man villains and side characters, Sony has decided to cease further expansion of the SSU, which has struggled to maintain momentum.
This decision comes after several high-profile releases such as Venom, Morbius, and Madame Web, which, despite financial success in some cases, failed to create a cohesive or compelling universe.
The SSU, which began with Venom in 2018, had a rocky start, with mixed reviews but impressive box office numbers, particularly for the first Venom film.
However, the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and the critically panned Morbius (2022), set alarm bells ringing. Despite this, Sony pressed on, releasing more films like Madame Web and expanding on characters like Kraven the Hunter, who will now likely mark the end of the SSU.
The company’s pivot comes in response to the lack of narrative cohesion across its films. The SSU’s films have been criticized for their disjointed storylines, with Venom and Morbius never fully connecting to the larger Spider-Man lore, and Madame Web setting itself in a timeline that conflicted with the other films
The failure to create a meaningful, shared universe is one of the driving factors behind Sony’s decision to pull back from these spin-offs. Instead, Sony has decided to focus more on films directly linked to Spider-Man himself, with a new Spider-Man 4 slated as a priority.
In light of these shifts, the future of Spider-Man-related films appears to be more grounded in collaboration with Marvel Studios. Sony’s agreement to have Spider-Man appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been successful, and it seems that Sony is now aligning its plans with a more straightforward Spider-Man-centric strategy
This new direction may focus on fewer, but more connected, films that play into Spider-Man’s core narrative rather than spreading resources across a fractured and inconsistent universe.
