In news sure not to excite anyone in particular, Kraven the Huntsman 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 opening weekend with scathing reviews (along with 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 World of Surprise Letters (SUMC)?
Whatever this franchise was supposed to be called, it’s all but certainly over. The newest 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.
Spider-Man: Municipal War
Brand new Sony Market has been a mystical beast because of the latest unconventional rights situation it can be obtained inside. Sony Photo retains the film liberties to the Spider-Man operation, however, after the vital and you may financial frustration of Amazing Crawl-Man dos when you look at the 2014, Sony chose to express Crawl-Man that have Question Studios and allow Peter Parker to move to your the fresh MCU, in which he or she is just like the started starred by the Tom The netherlands. However, Sony got currently started creativity with the multiple twist-away from programs for the TASM weeks, such as for example Venom and you can Sinister Half a dozen video clips. Sony demonstrably wanted to mine a lot of Ponder characters it got entry to, nevertheless center of attention of your own team, Spider-Man, was now taking part in the internet of what is technically its opponent.
Brand new solamente Examine-Man videos that appeared shortly after have been a sign of your own couch potato-aggressive arrangement one to Disney and you may Sony hit. Homecoming and far At home had been drowning in the references into wider MCU, making certain that it would be difficult for Sony to simply pull out of your own arrangement in the place of hurtful admirers and you can investors who matter why Holland’s now quite popular sorts of the character are no longer in the same community due to the fact their Avengers friends, when you’re Absolutely no way Household put brute push locate types of emails regarding Sony’s non-MCU franchises on legitimacy towards the strength of multiverse. But nothing of this changes you to definitely Sony’s connection to the new wide Wonder brand name was amazingly you to-sided, something also standard watchers have been with the capacity of cluing in to.
It amourfeel dating reviews is laughable you to definitely an excellent cinematic world filled with Spider-Guy emails cannot have Examine-Guy with it.
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 showed up and you can ran without the two characters ever crossing paths. Same with Morbius, Madame Web, 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.
