Has there ever been a franchise nobody asked for that’s being pushed as hard and as fast as Sony’s Spider-Man Universe?
After all, studio interference severely impacted Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, to the extent that he walked away from the fourth movie altogether. Then, The Amazing Spider-Man was crushed under the weight of needless world-building, with multiple spin-offs being announced and then canceled when the entire operation ended up being abandoned just two films in.
Undeterred, Sony has attempted to piggyback off the success of Kevin Feige’s web-slinging escapades with its own in-house mythology, and the results have been less than stellar. Sure, Venom and sequel Let There Be Carnage were huge successes, but Morbius speaks volumes all on its lonesome.
An R-rating has generated some hype for Kraven the Hunter, but the jury remains very much out on Madame Web, while El Muerto has been a punchline ever since its existence was confirmed. That hasn’t stopped the saga from moving into episodic storytelling, though, with Amazon hosting Silk: Spider Society and Spider-Man Noir as live-action TV shows.
However, executive producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller confirmed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that they’ve both been shut down in the midst of the ongoing writers’ strike, with no word on when things are going to be picking back up again.
If Spider-Man Noir manages to secure Nicolas Cage for the title role then all sins will immediately be forgiven, but until that does or doesn’t happen, Sony’s splinter cell of comic book adaptations will continue to be viewed with well-earned skepticism.
