Sony’s ‘Spider-Man Universe’ has had its share of successes and struggles—let’s explore what worked, what didn’t, and what lies ahead.
Sony’s first Spider-Man movie was 2002’s ‘Spider-Man,’ directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire. This movie was really successful. 2021’s ‘No Way Home’ was also very popular. They released it in collaboration with Marvel.
This film also made a big splash with the return of Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Still, ‘Madame Web,’ ‘Venom 3,’ and ‘Kraven the Hunter’ disappointed Sony Pictures. Sony reportedly blamed Dakota Johnson for ‘Madame Web’s poor reviews and box office results, according to the Daily Mail.
Insiders said her public criticism of the film may hurt her career in the future. They noted, “Lots of people at Sony are questioning her star power, and how she reacted to this failure will likely come back to haunt her. It is OK to joke about your movie not doing well and even lean into the bad reviews like Sydney Sweeney did on SNL with her monologue — but producers and Sony aren’t laughing over Dakota’s continued dragging about how she sees the fallout of ‘Madame Web’ and how she isn’t taking any responsibility for its lackluster results.”
‘Kraven the Hunter’ had a record-low opening weekend, grossing between $11-$12 million. It is the latest film in Sony’s ‘Spider-Man Universe.’ Despite a cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe, ‘Kraven’ couldn’t surpass ‘Moana 2’ and ‘Wicked’ at the box office. It now holds the worst opening in the franchise, falling below ‘Madame Web’s $15.3 million debut.
Earlier this year, fans debated the difference between Marvel Studios and Sony’s ‘Spider-Man Universe’ (SSU). Some were concerned that Sony’s movies were hurting the reputation of the Marvel brand. A Reddit thread asked if Sony is ‘ruining the ‘Marvel’ name in movies.’
A user said, “I know that Marvel Studios has been putting out mediocre movies since ‘Endgame’ (with the odd exception), but Sony Marvel movies tend to be viewed as bad or just plain terrible. (with the exception of Spiderverse movies and ‘Venom’). I feel that a lot of people don’t differentiate between the two entities. Are they bringing the name down?'”
A fan replied, “Man… Yes. It sucks, too, because if you’re not an active fan, you wouldn’t know that Marvel Sony and Marvel Studios are different universes and different studios. It f*cking blows my mind how bad all Sony Marvel movies are. They did such a great job with Tobey McGuire’s Spider-Man. They’ve been chasing that high ever since.”
“I do think it is. Earlier today, I saw a TikTok of these guys talking about ‘Madame Web,’ and they genuinely thought it was in the MCU. For the everyday viewer, it’s just too confusing, and, of course, Marvel isn’t helping themselves either,” another one added.
According to The Wrap, Sony decided to stop making Marvel movie spin-offs due to poor reviews, negative fan reactions, and low box office numbers. They plan to focus on ‘Spider-Man 4’ and ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,’ both co-productions with Marvel Studios. They also want to prioritize the ‘Spider-Noir’ TV series.
