In news sure not to excite anyone in particular, Kraven the latest Huntsman is now in theaters. The latest and most likely last live-action spin-off flick for Sony’s unfortunate cinematic universe is limping towards a humiliating beginning week-end with scathing reviews (along with IGN’s), marking an ignominious end for what’s been one of the worst years ever for the superhero genre. While no major superhero franchise is at its best right now, with the MCU struggling to get back to the heights of the Infinity Saga and Warner Bros. betting big on James Gunn’s upcoming Superman reboot to get DC back on track, none have been as consistently lackluster as the Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Or is it the Sony Universe off Ponder Letters (SUMC)?
Whatever this franchise was supposed to be called, it’s all but certainly over. The Tie recently reported that Sony Pictures is seeking to shutter this flailing enterprise after Kraven the Hunter so they can put all their focus on the upcoming Spider-Man 4 and Beyond the Spider-Verse. Good on them for cutting their losses and not subjecting us to any more of this nonsense, but the real question is: How did anyone think this was going to turn out differently? None of these movies were particularly good (sorry, Venom fans) and they all starred characters who are defined by their relationships to Spider-Man, a character they weren’t allowed to meet. This series was always going to fail, even if someone managed to wrangle a worthwhile movie out of the situation. Let’s take a look at why Sony’s Marvel Universe was doomed before it even started.
The brand new Sony Market has been a mysterious monster due to the new bizarre rights problem it can be acquired inside the. Sony Photos keeps the movie liberties to the Crawl-Man operation, but following vital and you can financial disappointment of one’s Amazing Spider-Man dos from inside the 2014, Sony decided to share Examine-People having Ponder Studios and permit Peter Parker so kissbridesdate.com have a peek at this web site you can swing with the the brand new MCU, where he’s as the been starred by Tom The netherlands. But Sony had currently become development towards several spin-away from projects from inside the TASM months, instance Venom and you may Sinister Half a dozen video. Sony obviously wanted to exploit more of the Ponder letters they had use of, but the focus of one’s team, Spider-Man, is now tangled up in the online of what is officially its competition.
The latest solamente Spider-People video that showed up shortly after was indeed an indicator of your passive-aggressive contract you to Disney and you may Sony strike. Homecoming and far From home have been drowning inside the recommendations on the wide MCU, ensuring that it would be difficult for Sony to simply sign up for of the arrangement without hurtful fans and you will shareholders who question why Holland’s today well-accepted variety of the character are no offered in the same world while the his Avengers family, when you find yourself No way House utilized brute force to get products off characters regarding Sony’s low-MCU franchises towards legitimacy into the power of the multiverse. However, nothing of these changes one to Sony’s connection to the fresh new large Ponder brand are interestingly you to definitely-sided, something even general viewers was in fact ready cluing directly into.
The in association with Marvel logo that Sony was forced to use and the clear indication that they weren’t allowed to feature Spider-Man in their spin-off films created an omnipresent feeling of Sony’s films being a B-side to the MCU. Regardless of how many times Tom Hardy or others teased Venom meeting Spider-Man, the entire Venom trilogy arrived and you may ran without the two characters ever crossing paths. Same with Morbius, Madame Web, and now Kraven, with the closest thing to a proper Peter Parker appearance outside of Let There Be Carnage’s post-credits scene being him being born in Madame Web. It’s laughable that a cinematic universe filled with Spider-Man characters doesn’t actually have Spider-Man in it, but that fact ruined the series in more ways than one.