- Kraven the Hunter hits theaters this week
- There have been six movies in the Sony Spider-Man Universe
- No more movies are planned in the SSU
While Kraven the Hunter hits theaters later this week, it is set to be the final entry in the Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU), according to reports.
Moving on
The film – which has had decidedly mixed reviews so far from critics and on social media – is the sixth in the SSU and, according to a report by The Wrap, no more will be forthcoming.
The Wrap quoted an unnamed (of course) Sony source who said: “Sometimes that lack of quality meets a movie no one asked for, which was the case with Madame Web. It may be time for Sony to start cultivating different IP to launch new franchises.”
The SSU has not been a roaring success. Morbius and Madame Web were box office flops and the only real success has been the Venom trilogy, which concluded earlier this year with Venom: The Last Dance.
Given the SSU is based on movies about villains most often associated with Spider-Man, but without actually featuring the web-slinger, then it was always going to be a difficult sell. Due to complex legal issues, Spider-Man cannot appear in these films – they are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition, there has been nothing to link the films with each other.
Focus on Spider-Verse
The Wrap’s report said Sony will focus in the future on Spider-Man movies and the animated Spider-Verse films, which focus on the Miles Morales version of Spidey.
Although while the two Spider-Verse films have been very successful, there is still no word on when the third instalment – Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse might make it into theaters. There were rumors back in September that most of what has been already made has been scrapped, and a producer took to social media to deny those claims. But there is still no release date for the movie.
