Sony's Spider-Man Universe

• 1. Introduction

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  Sony's Spider-Man Universe is a shared universe of films built around Spider-Man's villains and allies, even though Spider-Man himself is not prominently featured in it. In March 2019, a Sony Pictures Entertainment presentation revealed an official title for this universe: the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, shortened to the acronym SPUMC. Commentators mocked the name for being longer than the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the DC Extended Universe. James Whitbrook, writing for io9, asked why Sony did not simply call it the Spider-Verse instead. Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch later explained that Sony deliberately avoided that term, since the universe included many characters unrelated to Spider-Man. Two years later, in August 2021, Sony renamed the franchise again, this time calling it Sony's Spider-Man Universe. What forces pushed Sony toward a franchise built around a hero it rarely puts on screen? And why does a studio that owns the film rights to Spider-Man keep negotiating with Marvel just to borrow him back?

• 2. Villains Take the Lead

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  In July 2017, Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch said the studio wanted to "do what's the absolute best for each individual property. I just want to honor the original DNA." Because of this, Sony hoped individual filmmakers would give each film its own distinct style. It wanted to avoid placing one person in charge, the way Kevin Feige ran the MCU. The studio also considered different genres, such as horror or comedy, along with potential R-rated films and unusually small budgets, depending on the project.

  By March 2018, Sony executive vice president Palak Patel was overseeing all of the universe's films. In July, the magazine Vulture interviewed several people working on the universe to address fan concerns. Jonathan Goldstein, co-writer of Spider-Man: Homecoming, said the future of the universe would depend on the success of Venom. Comic writer Brian Michael Bendis, who consulted on Into the Spider-Verse, called Sony's plans "very cool." He added that "fans wouldn't be annoyed with what they're doing." He compared the risk to Marvel's own Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, films built around characters general audiences barely knew before both succeeded.

  In August 2018, Sony confirmed it held the rights to 900 Marvel Comics characters. Panitch said, "Spider-Man connects to a lot of the characters. There are villains, heroes, and antiheroes, and a lot are female characters, many of whom are bona fide, fully dimensionalized, and utterly unique." When asked if Venom would serve as the "common thread" running through the universe, Sony said this was not necessarily the case, though Venom would have "key points of intersection" with other films.

  After Venom's release, producer Amy Pascal said some of Sony's "previously shelved plans" could now come to fruition. That included a crossover built around the villain team the Sinister Six.

• 3. Courting the MCU

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  In June 2017, Kevin Feige said Marvel Studios had no plans for Venom to cross over with the MCU. Venom, he noted, was solely a Sony project. Producer Amy Pascal soon clarified that Sony's new Marvel-based films would take place in "the same world" as Spider-Man: Homecoming. She described them as "adjunct" to it. She said Venom would connect with Sony's next planned film, Silver & Black, and raised the possibility of Tom Holland's Spider-Man crossing into Sony's own universe. Holland's contract limited him to a trilogy of Spider-Man films and a handful of other MCU appearances.

  During production of Venom, Tom Holland reportedly filmed a cameo as Peter Parker for the film. Marvel Studios asked Sony to cut the scene from the final release. By August 2018, Sony described Spider-Man and Venom as "already in the same universe," saying it looked forward to the two "eventually facing off." That December, Venom writer Jeff Pinkner said it was "not impossible that in a future/upcoming Venom movie, Spider-Man will play a significant role." Pascal added that "there's a world in which everything comes together," though Holland remained restricted by his Marvel contract.

  By August 2019, Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company had spent several months negotiating an expanded deal with Sony. Disney asked for a 25-50 percent stake in any future Sony films Feige produced, but the two studios could not reach an agreement. Sony then announced it would move forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel's involvement. The Hollywood Reporter said this almost certainly meant Holland's Spider-Man would no longer appear in MCU films. It added that the split improved the odds of a crossover with Sony's own Venom franchise and the in-production Morbius. That September, Vinciquerra said "for the moment the door is closed" on Spider-Man's return to the MCU. He added that the character would "play off the other characters" that Sony owned. Responding to fan backlash, Vinciquerra called Marvel's people "terrific." But he added, "Kevin didn't do all the work... we're pretty capable of doing what we have to do here."

  Disney's D23 Expo drew a negative fan reaction to the split. Holland personally appealed to Tom Rothman and Disney chief executive Bob Iger, and the two studios returned to negotiations. That September, Sony and Disney announced a new agreement letting Marvel Studios and Feige produce a third MCU Spider-Man film. Disney would co-finance 25 percent of the film in exchange for 25 percent of its profits, while keeping the character's merchandising rights. The deal also let Holland's Spider-Man appear in a future Marvel Studios film. Feige said the character could now "cross cinematic universes" into Sony's shared universe. Sony called the collaboration "great," saying that "our mutual desire to continue was equal to that of the many fans." Panitch acknowledged in May 2021 that fans still felt confusion and frustration over how the two universes connected. He said things were "getting a little more clear." He added that an upcoming Spider-Man film would reveal more of Sony's plan.

• 4. The Doctor Strange Loophole

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  In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange casts two spells: one bringing characters from other universes into the MCU, and a second sending them back. The mid-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, released earlier in 2021, shows Venom pulled into the MCU by the first spell. No Way Home's own mid-credits scene then sends Venom back to his own universe. A small part of the Venom symbiote is left behind in the MCU. Feige said there was significant coordination between the two production teams, with No Way Home director Jon Watts filming both scenes himself.

  Morbius' mid-credits scenes take place at the same time as the events of No Way Home. They show Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes, known as Vulture, arriving in the SSU through the same spell, to meet Morbius. The scene was filmed during reshoots to explain how a Vulture from the MCU could interact with a non-MCU character. Sony had to adjust these plans after Morbius, originally completed for a 2020 release, was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It finally arrived after No Way Home.

  In June 2022, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller said Sony intended for the SSU and its animated Spider-Verse films to connect to the MCU. The link would run through the multiverse. Despite that plan, Holland did not appear in any SSU film by the end of 2024. Variety's Adam B. Vary reported that this absence raised concerns about quality control and whether the spin-off films were opportunistic and cynical products. Hardy said in March 2025 that a crossover between his Venom and Holland's Spider-Man had been discussed beyond the No Way Home appearance. It never moved into development.

• 5. Reviews and Receipts

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  Venom opened to a 31 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from 365 reviews and a Metacritic rating of 35 from 46 reviews. Its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, improved to 58 percent from 283 reviews, with a Metacritic score of 49 from 48 reviews. Morbius fell to 15 percent from 287 reviews, and Madame Web dropped further, to 10 percent from 269 reviews. Venom: The Last Dance recovered somewhat, reaching 40 percent from 225 reviews, while Kraven the Hunter matched Morbius at 15 percent, from 160 reviews.

  The franchise had grossed over $2 billion worldwide across its six films by the end of 2024. Individually, Venom's worldwide total reached $856,085,161, while Kraven the Hunter closed at just $61,989,190 against a budget of $110-130 million. A later Variety report said Sony had privately acknowledged that Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and Morbius were creative and critical failures. The same report noted that the Venom films, despite mixed reviews, remained commercially successful.

  At the 2023 Golden Raspberry Awards, Morbius collected nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Director Daniel Espinosa, and Worst Actor Jared Leto. It was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress Adria Arjona and Worst Screenplay. Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter both collected Razzie nominations of their own in 2025. Kraven the Hunter's included Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and Worst Supporting Actress Ariana DeBose. Venom fared better elsewhere, winning the MTV Movie & TV Awards' Best Kiss for Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams. Venom: The Last Dance later earned a Best Science Fiction Film nomination at the 2025 Saturn Awards.

  Sony's television spinoff Spider-Noir would fare very differently, earning a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from 88 reviews when it premiered in 2026.

• 6. Beyond the Big Screen

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  In March 2019, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra announced the shared universe would expand into television. Sony Pictures Television would lead a slate of new projects. Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins described the studio's progress selecting characters for the medium as "pretty far down the road." By that September, Vinciquerra said there were five or six individual series already in development.

  Sony canceled its planned team-up film Silver & Black in August 2018. The studio split it into two potential solo projects, around Felicia Hardy, known as Black Cat, and Silver Sable. By January 2020, the project had shifted again into a television series. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood confirmed this that April, suggesting it could become a limited series. A separate series built around Cindy Moon, known as Silk, moved forward on its own track. In September 2020, Sony entered talks with Amazon Prime Video to stream its slate of Marvel-based series. Negotiators cited "major issues that need to be resolved" over the characters' complex rights. Amazon confirmed in April 2021 that it held the streaming rights. By November 2022, the series, retitled Silk: Spider Society, was set to debut on the network MGM+ before moving to Prime Video. The Writers Guild of America strike shut down its writers' room in May 2023. After months of delay, Amazon dropped the project in May 2024, returning the rights to Sony.

  Nicolas Cage, who voiced Spider-Man Noir in Into the Spider-Verse, was cast to play the character again in live action for the series Spider-Noir. Development began in February 2023 with Oren Uziel writing, but the writers' strike paused work that same May. Cage's casting was confirmed in May 2024, when the series was formally ordered and titled Noir. It was renamed Spider-Noir that July, to better highlight its Spider-Man connections. In the series, Cage plays a private investigator using the alias Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, the character's identity in the comics. Filming ran from August 2024 to March 2025 in Los Angeles. Spider-Noir premiered on the 13th of May 2026, at the Regal Times Square in New York City. Its eight episodes were released in full on MGM+ on the 25th of May, and reached Prime Video worldwide two days later.

  By December 2024, Sony was reported to have halted development of further SSU films. Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter had both underperformed at the box office. The studio turned its attention instead to the MCU film Spider-Man: Brand New Day, set for 2026. It also focused on the animated Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, planned for 2027, and the television series Spider-Noir. In February 2026, Rothman confirmed Sony still planned to continue the franchise through a "fresh reboot" overseen by different people. At that time, Sony Pictures Animation was already developing an animated Venom film, to be directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, with Hardy creatively involved.