Posted in: Movies, Sony | Tagged: kraven the hunter, Madame Web, morbius
Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman has confirmed that the next era of Sony Spider-Man characters will be a fresh reboot with new actors.
Article Summary
- Sony Pictures confirms the next era of Spider-Man movies will be a fresh reboot with new actors.
- Past films like Madame Web, Morbius, and Kraven the Hunter struggled at the box office and with fans.
- Chairman Tom Rothman says the studio will revisit Spider-Man characters, but not with previous film versions.
- Animated projects like Venom and Spider-Man Noir remain active as Sony reshapes its Spider-Man universe.
To say that things aren’t going well for the Sony era of Spider-Man movies, in general, would be an understatement. The Venom movies have been the exception, but the other three big-budget attempts have all fallen flat in rather spectacular ways. Madame Web, Morbius, and Kraven the Hunter were not only box-office failures but also failed to find any fans beyond people trying to be ironic.
We know that an animated Venom movie is now in the works, and it appears Sony is leaning into the character from the Spider-Verse movies, even bringing an animated version to life with Spider-Man Noir. However, it sounds like the first round of characters isn’t going to be returning anytime soon. Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman was recently asked by Matt Belloni on The Town podcast (via The Hollywood Reporter) about this specific corner of the Spider-Man universe, “Where are we in the Spider-Man franchise? Not the animated Spider-Verse. Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?” The following exchange took place:
“No,” replied Rothman.
“Are you going to go back to those at some point?”
“Yes,” Rothman confirmed.
“But it’ll be a fresh reboot?”
“Yes.”
“New people?”
“Yes, yes.”
Rothman went on to say that “scarcity has value … you got to make the audience miss you,” which is CEO talk for “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The very funny thing about all of this is that both Morbius and Kraven are characters that Sony has been desperate to get on the big screen for years. A Morbius film was first talked about all the way back in 2000, while Kraven was a possibility for the next Sam Raimi film back in 2009, before the 2012 reboot happened. As for Madame Web, well, that character getting a movie always seemed like a weird choice, so not much has been lost there. Madame Web would make for a great second-act sidequest character in another film, not the main character in her own film.
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