Kraven the Hunter will likely to be the last of Sony’s Spider-Man free Spider-Man movies. But the studio isn’t done making Marvel films just yet. A new report says Sony isn’t giving up making big screen superhero movies. One of the obvious reasons for its cinematic superhero struggles so far was a deliberate choice not to features Tom Holland’s Peter Parker even though it could have. And that could point to how Sony will change course going forward.
Variety‘s Adam B. Vary wrote about the successes (Venom) and failures (everything that wasn’t Venom) of Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent films, which will seemingly conclude with Kraven the Hunter. His breakdown includes insight into why the studio never included Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker in their own movies despite the character’s popularity in the MCU. It had nothing to do with any deal Sony struck with Disney. From Vary:
According to one Sony source, the deal with Disney never precluded Sony from using Spider-Man in its movies that didn’t bear his name; the “Spider-Verse” movies’ profusion of Peter Parkers, Gwen Stacys and other various Spider-People certainly bears that out. But there was a feeling within the studio that audiences would not accept Holland’s Spidey suddenly popping up in a live-action film that wasn’t a part of the MCU, especially after Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Marvel Studios projects Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness established definitive boundaries to the Marvel multiverse.
Sony has featured Spider-Man in its animated juggernauts, so we knew that wasn’t an issue. But now we know it could have specifically used Tom Holland’s character in their films. Would Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter have done better if they included Holland? Almost certainly. But that doesn’t mean Sony was wrong about how canon-obsessed superhero fans would feel about his involvement. Featuring Holland’s Spider-Man without a logical explanation for why he suddenly appeared in a different universe might have also lessened his impact on the character’s role in the MCU. Sony would have/does care about that. Those joint MCU productions still make Sony a lot of money.
So while Sony could have used Holland in its own films, it’s understandable why they chose not to. But the downside to that choice could also provide a way forward for future Sony Marvel films. The multiverse is full of Spider-People. Sony’s own Spider-Verse films have shown that. The studio could cast its own, entirely new live-action Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, or even all three for their own films. Meanwhile Tom Holland could continue to star as the MCU’s Variant.
Not only will that let Sony put Spider-Man back into their Spider-Man movies without worrying about the rules of the multiverse, it would set up a huge crossover film someday with Holland’s Peter appearing with Sony’s Peter. And we already know how audiences would feel about seeing multiple live-actions Spider-Mans onscreen together. That kind of cinematic event will definitely be a bigger box office draw than Madame Web or Kraven the Hunter. (Although Sony apparently still insists Morbius turned a profit.)