Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures with Marvel Entertainment, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is based on Marvel Comics characters associated with Spider-Man, who is not prominently featured in the franchise itself. The films are loosely connected, emphasizing standalone storytelling over crossovers.
Spider-Man is not prominently featured because Sony's Spider-Man Universe centers on his supporting characters and villains rather than the hero himself. Tom Holland's Spider-Man remained tied to a Marvel Studios contract limiting his appearances, so he did not appear in any SSU film by the end of 2024.
Sony announced in August 2021 that its shared universe had been renamed Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The name replaced an earlier internal title, the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or SPUMC, confirmed in a March 2019 presentation and widely mocked for its length.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe had grossed over $2 billion worldwide across its six films by the end of 2024. Individually, Venom earned $856,085,161 worldwide, while Kraven the Hunter, its lowest performer, made only $61,989,190 against a budget of $110-130 million.
Sony stopped developing further Sony's Spider-Man Universe films by the end of 2024 after Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter performed poorly at the box office. A Variety report noted Sony had privately acknowledged that Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and Morbius were creative and critical failures.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe connects to the Marvel Cinematic Universe through a multiverse device introduced in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Doctor Strange casts spells that move characters between universes. This link brought Venom into the MCU in Venom: Let There Be Carnage's mid-credits scene and sent Adrian Toomes, known as Vulture, into the SSU during Morbius' mid-credits scene.