Potentially, the Expanded Sony Spider-Man Realm Could Conclude This Week
Looks like the good times for non-Spidey films might be drawing to a close. No more delving into arachnid studies in the Amazon rainforest. Venom's been bitten, and it seems Kraven is no longer the flavor Sony's lusting after. This week marks the debut of Kraven the Hunter, the highly anticipated motion picture about one of Spider-Man's archnemeses, portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It's just another installment in Sony's series of Spider-Man-related films that have been hitting theaters over the past few years. But it seems the trend is shifting.
According to The Wrap, after this week's release of Kraven, "the future appears to lean towards projects more directly tied to Spider-Man himself." So what does that mean exactly? Primarily, it's all about Spider-Man 4, the Tom Holland sequel to the box office smash Spider-Man: No Way Home, due for release in July 2026. But there's also the Spider-Man Noir series starring Nicolas Cage as an older, multiverse version of the character, as well as Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, the final movie in the groundbreaking animation series. All of these are in the pipeline.
However, it seems we won't be seeing any more Spider-Man films without the wall-crawler himself, films once known as the "Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters" or SPUMC for short, and later the Sony Spider-Man Universe. That includes movies like Morbius, Madame Web, and this weekend's Kraven the Hunter, which reportedly won't feature any end-credit scenes linking it to other films. Venom was a surprise hit for the studio, leading to two sequels, but the latest third installment wrapped up that series. Morbius and Madame Web were major flops, and while the fate of Kraven the Hunter is unclear, the disappointment from the previous films might leave a sour taste.
But maybe Kraven the Hunter has an incredible opening weekend and returns in the future. Doubtful, but not impossible. But even if it does manage to return, it would only happen after all the other Spider-Man projects have been released, marking the first time in a long time that Sony's Spider-Man Universe is all about Spider-Man himself.
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In the realm of future movie developments, io9 reports that the focus seems to be shifting towards projects directly tied to Spider-Man, such as the upcoming 'Spider-Man 4' and the 'Spider-Man Noir' series. Additionally, technology enthusiasts might look forward to the continuation of the groundbreaking 'Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse' animation series.
