It’s been one year since Sony’s Spider-Man Universe came to an end with the release of the franchise’s worst movie, but the future is still looking bright for Spider-Man. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe originally started as ideas for spinoffs following The Amazing Spider-Man duology, but quickly evolved into a separate franchise after Tom Holland’s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. After releasing Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter, however, the SSU crumbled under the weight of bad reviews and even worse box office totals.
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Kraven the Hunter hit theaters on December 13, 2024, marking the sixth and final feature film in the SSU. Kraven the Hunter highlighted every problem with the entire franchise as a whole, and therefore performed the worst of all the SSU’s projects, grossing only $62 million and earning only a 15% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The SSU’s movies performed increasingly worse and worse as the franchise developed, eventually leading to its cancellation on the big-screen, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end for Spider-Man—both with Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.
Why the SSU Was Cancelled & What the Future Holds For Spider-Man
The Venom trilogy, which starred Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the host of the Venom Symbiote, was the most successful cornerstone of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Even these movies, however, didn’t perform as well as Sony will have hoped, and Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter were abject disappointments with few redeeming qualities. After the Venom movies concluded with The Last Dance in October 2024, there was no desire to see the SSU continue, so focus has shifted on development Spider-Man’s story in the MCU and other Sony projects.
The absence of Spider-Man in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe was one of the key points of contention throughout the franchise’s run. The SSU followed some of the most iconic Spider-Man-related characters and villains, but didn’t pit them against the wall-crawler, which surely had a hand in imploding the franchise. Thankfully, we have been able to see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man grow in MCU-set joint ventures between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures since his debut in Captain America: Civil War in 2016. 2026 will expand on this with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, leading to even more adventures.
As well as developing Spider-Man’s story in the MCU, two different Spider-People will also be gracing our screens solely from Sony in the coming years. First, Nicolas Cage will be playing Ben Reilly’s Spider-Man Noir in Sony Pictures Television’s upcoming Spider-Noir series, debuting as a live-action version of his Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse character. The popular animated Spider-Verse franchise will also be growing with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which will bring back Miles Morales’ Spider-Man for a trilogy-capping adventure, proving that the future is still looking bright for Spider-Man even without the SSU.
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