Somewhere around 2015, when Sony agreed to share tits most valuable asset – Spider-Man – with Marvel Studios, the studio also began to build a side universe. It initially focused on the alien symbiote Venom (as played by Tom Hardy), but grew to include unexpected side characters like Morbius the Living Vampire (Jared Leto) and Madame Web (Dakota Johnson). Marvel went on to make some of the best Spider-Man movies ever made. Sony, though successful in animation, has struggled in live-action.
At this point, the experiment should be over. Ahead of the opening of Madame Web, critics tore the film a new one, with our own Dirk Libbey surmising in his official review (quite accurately) that the film “feels like a feature-length trailer for something else Sony hopes to make – though I can’t imagine we’ll ever see it.” That’s a major problem. You can try to build a cinematic universe out of the full slate of Spider-Man characters that contractually are available to Sony. But so far, the decisions being made by the studio brass are either questionable, or bad. Casual fans have no clue who Madame Web is, as a character. They didn’t know who Morbius was. They MIGHT know Kraven the Hunter, but without Spider-Man being in the movie, that upcoming film is an uphill battle to sell.
Thankfully, I have ideas. (You’re welcome, Sony!) And they seem fairly obvious. Sony’s not going to stop making Spider-Man-related movies. Why would they? But something needs to change with regards to how the creative team is moving forward, so we can avoid titles like El Muerto getting announced, then cancelled. Where can Sony start?
Make a live-action Miles Morales movie.
Uber producer Amy Pascal recently told Variety that a live-action Miles Morales feature is on the radar, but won’t happen soon… at least not until after Spider-Man 4 in the MCU, and the conclusion of the Spider-Verse animated trilogy. And I get why those movies are important.
But why isn’t a live-action Miles Morales movie in the production pipeline now? Why did Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter, and the doomed El Muerto trump it? If Tom Holland needs to stay in the MCU, this developing live-action Spider-Universe needs a Spider-Man. Why isn’t it Miles Morales, a character who has become incredibly popular with a younger generation of Spider-Man fans through the comics and the recent movies? A Miles Morales live-action movie should be in active development, with a release date, a script, and a director. Long before Spider-Man Noir on Amazon Prime, or Silk.
Cast a different Spider-Man for this universe… or use an old one.
The concept of the Spider-Verse, which has been introduced in the two animated features, has successfully educated mainstream audiences on the reality that multiple heroes can exist in different universes. Spider-Man: No Way Home pulled both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire over from their universes. Then, at the end, they were sent back. What if one of them – preferably Andrew Garfield – landed in the same universe as Tom Hardy’s Venom, Jared Leto’s Morbius, Michael Keaton’s Vulture, and Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Kraven. We even saw the formation of a Rhino in the Kraven the Hunter trailer. So Andrew wouldn’t have to fight a Russian guy in a mechanical suit.
Audiences won’t be confused by Tom Holland in the MCU, and Andrew Garfield in the Sony universe. We can handle that. Hell, we’d prefer it! But, if Sony wanted to avoid confusing people with the two Amazing Spider-Man films, and want to start fresh with a younger actor (sorry, Andrew), then cast a Spider-Man who is specific to the Sony universe. There was the mural of a Spider-Man in the Morbius trailer. That has to be SOMEONE. Bring that person into the fold, and we’ll suddenly have a reason to have introduced all of those villains through their individual movies.
Choose better Spider-Man villains.
Fine, you don’t want to bring Spider-Man into the Spider-Man universe yet (for whatever reason). Then make solo Spidey villain movies about the classic villains. Do you know how much source material exists to make a proper Doctor Octopus story, or a Norman Osborn trilogy that could include Harry, Gwen Stacy, a Hobgoblin, and so much more? Kraven the Hunter is the closest thing to a Silver Age Spider-Man villain. Why are we not making full-blown stories out of villains that audiences know, understand, and care about.
Flint Marko, aka Sandman, got a tragic arc in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. But it was truncated by the forced inclusion of Venom (played by Topher Grace). The character development and writing on the original Spidey villains is substantial enough that they can carry a movie. Not Madame Web, a tertiary character who was always confusing on the pages of the books. And not El Muerto, who wasn’t even familiar to die-hard Spidey fans when that film got announced.
The Lizard, the Scorpion, the Shocker, the Rhino, Sandman, the Vulture… all of these villains should be getting movies LONG before Sony got down to Madame Web. You can put off the introduction of Spider-Man o your live-action Spider-Man universe if you build out the corners of the Spider-Verse with villains we care about. Not the ones who so far have been rolled out, to little or no fanfare.
These are my suggestions. See for yourself when Madame Web opens in theaters, and then mark Kraven the Hunter down on your list of Upcoming 2024 movies, to see if that one is any better.
