In May 2017, Sony Pictures officially announced a shared universe that would feature Spider-Man villains, heroes, and antiheroes, yet the web-slinger himself would never appear on screen as a main character. This contradiction defined the entire enterprise from its inception, creating a franchise built around a character whose rights were owned by the studio but whose presence was deliberately kept at arm's length. Sony Pictures, which had acquired the film rights to Spider-Man decades earlier, began developing an expanded universe featuring supporting characters from the Spider-Man films by December 2013. The studio planned to use The Amazing Spider-Man 2, released in 2014, to launch several spin-off films focused on Spider-Man villains from the comics, including a Venom film. However, after the relative critical and financial disappointment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, these plans were abandoned, and in February 2015, Sony announced a deal to collaborate with Marvel Studios on future Spider-Man films and integrate the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This relationship produced Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, while Sony separately re-developed Venom in 2018 as a stand-alone film with its own fictional universe. The resulting entity, known as the Sony's Spider-Man Universe, became a unique experiment in Hollywood where the titular hero was absent from the very films that bore his name.
The Venom Pivot
The turning point for the entire franchise arrived in March 2016 when Sony revived its long-in-development Venom film, envisioning it as a standalone project unrelated to Sony and Marvel's new Spider-Man films. A year later, Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner were writing the screenplay, and in May 2017, Sony announced that Tom Hardy would star as Eddie Brock / Venom in the film, to be directed by Ruben Fleischer. Kelly Marcel later joined as an additional writer, and filming took place from October 2017 to January 2018, in Atlanta, New York City, and San Francisco. The producers wanted to focus on telling a standalone story with Venom, rather than having it introduce crossover opportunities for future films, yet the film does include a post-credits scene featuring a clip from Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that reveals that the Venom universe is part of the Spider-Verse, a shared multiverse. This was added because Sony and the producers of Venom were excited by the possibility of crossovers between the live-action and animated films after seeing the quality of Into the Spider-Verse. The film was released on the 5th of October 2018, and despite receiving mixed reviews, it was commercially successful, grossing over $856 million worldwide. This success allowed Sony to move forward with its plans to build out a new universe gradually rather than rush in as they had previously tried with the Amazing Spider-Man spin-offs. Sony Pictures president Sanford Panitch explained that they were looking to do what's the absolute best for each individual property, hoping that individual filmmakers would give each film its own distinct style rather than having a single person in charge of the universe, as with the MCU's Kevin Feige. The studio also wanted to avoid conventional comic-book movies, with the intention of dealing in different genres such as horror or comedy, potential R-rated films, and even lower-than-usual budgets, depending on each project.The Multiverse Bridge
The connection between Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was forged through a series of mid-credits scenes that utilized the multiverse concept to link the two franchises. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange casts two spells: one that brings characters from other universes into the MCU, and one that sends them back to their own universes. The mid-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage shows Venom being transported into the MCU from his universe by the first spell, and the mid-credits scene of No Way Home shows Venom being transported back to his own universe by the second spell. A small part of the Venom symbiote is left in the MCU. Feige said there was significant coordination between the Let There Be Carnage and No Way Home teams to create the two scenes, with No Way Home director Jon Watts directing both scenes during production of that film. In the mid-credits scenes of Morbius, taking place simultaneously with the events of No Way Home, Adrian Toomes / Vulture is revealed to have been transported to the SSU by the same spell, meeting with Morbius in an effort to form a team. This scene was filmed during reshoots to explain how Keaton's Toomes could be interacting with Morbius, a non-MCU character. Sony was forced to adjust these plans after the film, which was originally completed for an initial 2020 release before several multiverse-focused MCU projects like No Way Home, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until after No Way Home. By August 2019, Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company had spent several months discussing expanding their deal with Sony, with the latter seeking to include more films than originally agreed while keeping the same terms of the original agreement. Disney expressed concern with Feige's workload producing the non-Spider-Man MCU films already, and asked for a 25, 50% stake in any future films Feige produces for Sony. Unable to agree, Sony announced that it would be moving forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel. They acknowledged that this could change in the future, thanked Feige for his work on Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, and stated that they appreciated the path Feige has helped put us on, which we will continue. The Hollywood Reporter added that the end of the studios' agreement almost certainly meant that Holland's Spider-Man would no longer appear in MCU films, but significantly increased the chances of the character crossing over with the rest of Sony's own Marvel films such as the Venom franchise and the then-in-production Morbius.The Critical Collapse
Despite the commercial success of the Venom films, the franchise suffered a severe critical backlash with the release of Morbius in 2022 and Madame Web in 2024. Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the title character, received a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for multiple Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor. The film was released on the 1st of April 2022, and despite these connections, the producers intended to tell a standalone origin story for Morbius as they did with Venom. Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson, was released on the 14th of February 2024, and received a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the lowest-rated superhero films of all time. The film is set in 2003, and features Emma Roberts and Adam Scott as Mary and Ben Parker, with Mary Parker pregnant in the film, which depicts the birth of Peter Parker. Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, was released on the 13th of December 2024, and received a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, further cementing the franchise's reputation for critical failure. The franchise has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, but by the end of 2024, Sony stopped developing further films to focus on its other Spider-Man properties, such as the live-action Sony Pictures Television series Spider-Noir, which is set in the same shared universe. A subsequent Variety report noted that Sony had privately acknowledged that Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and fellow SSU film Morbius were creative and critical failures and that they needed to re-evaluate which Spider-Man characters were given their own film franchises. Variety stated that while Sony had not technically established an official shared universe because it did not connect their narratives, the studio was not likely to stop making films for other characters, such as Venom, which were successful.The Television Expansion
Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra stated in March 2019 that the universe would be expanding to television with a set of Marvel projects developed specifically by Sony Pictures Television. At the time, the studio was essentially internally auditioning characters from the 900 it could access to decide which medium they would appear in, with Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins describing their progress in selecting characters for television as pretty far down the road. Hopkins elaborated that Sony planned to have several series set in the shared universe that could pollinate between each other, and that a yet-to-be-determined network partner would release them. An announcement of this partner was expected within the next few months, with the networks owned by Marvel's parent Disney, including their new streaming service Disney+, being considered alongside others. These television plans were attributed to the success of Venom and Into the Spider-Verse, which bolstered confidence that there's an appetite for Sony's slice of Marvel. After their work on Into the Spider-Verse, Lord and Miller signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television in April 2019 to develop multiple television series for the studio, including their Marvel-based series, which could potentially include characters from Into the Spider-Verse as well as live-action properties. Select projects would be produced in conjunction with Pascal. Discussing these series in August, Miller could not update where or when the series would be released but said there would be several live-action series and they would each be a unique experience with connections to the others. The next month, Vinciquerra said there were five or six individual series in development for the universe. By January 2020, one of these series was believed to be a version of Silver & Black after development on that film was canceled in August 2018. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who co-wrote and was going to direct the film version before it was canceled, confirmed in April 2020 that Silver & Black was being re-developed for television. She suggested that it could be a limited series, and had the potential to be released on Disney+. That June, former Marvel Television and Marvel Studios television executive Karim Zreik was made head of television for Lord and Miller, putting him in charge of all their planned series, including the Marvel-based ones. The latter were described as a priority for Sony Pictures Television, and Zreik's experience with previous Marvel television series made him a suitable partner for planning them.The Noir Reimagining
In February 2023, a television series based on the character Spider-Man Noir entered development from Sony and Amazon, with Oren Uziel writing the series and executive producing with Pascal, Lord, and Miller. Development was put on hold in May by the writers' strike and was set to resume after it ended. Lord and Miller said there was potential for Nicolas Cage to portray the titular role in the series after he previously voiced the character in Into the Spider-Verse. In December, Steve Lightfoot was hired to serve as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Uziel, and Cage was in talks for the title role by February 2024. The series was officially ordered and titled Noir in May 2024, when Cage's casting was confirmed and Harry Bradbeer joined to direct and executive produce the first two episodes. That July, the series was retitled Spider-Noir to better highlight its connections to the Spider-Man universe. Filming took place in Los Angeles from August 2024 to March 2025. In December 2025, Cage was revealed to be portraying Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, the identity of Spider-Man Noir in the comics. Spider-Noir is set in an alternate universe based on 1930s New York City. The series was set to debut in the United States on MGM+ before releasing internationally and in the United States on Amazon Prime Video, and will consist of eight episodes. Amazon was no longer moving forward with Silk: Spider Society by May 2024, when they instead chose to first proceed with greenlighting the Spider-Man Noir series, titled Spider-Noir, with Nicolas Cage reprising his role as the character from Into the Spider-Verse, though he is named Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, the identity of Spider-Man Noir in the comics and Spider-Verse films. Amazon returned the rights to Spider Society to Sony so that the studio could shop it to other potential networks. Amazon remained committed to their Marvel series with Sony, while Kang retained her overall deal with Amazon and was set to continue working on other projects for their studio. The Hollywood Reporter noted it was unclear if Sony could shop the series to Disney, which had previously released several Marvel-based television series. Sony was not expected to renew its deal with Lord and Miller by August 2024 after the duo disagreed with the studio over the budget for Spider-Noir.The Final Dance
In August 2018, Hardy confirmed that he had signed on to star in three Venom films. Andy Serkis expressed interest in returning to direct another Venom film in September 2021, and that December, Pascal said they were in the planning stages of a third Venom film. Sony confirmed the film was in development at CinemaCon in April 2022. In June, Hardy revealed that Kelly Marcel was writing the script and that he was co-writing the story with her, and Marcel was set to direct that October. Filming began in late June 2023 in Spain, but was halted the next month due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming resumed in November following the strike's conclusion, and was nearly completed by February 2024. The title was revealed the following month. Venom: The Last Dance was released on the 25th of October 2024. The film continues directly from the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Eddie and Venom return from the MCU to the SSU, with Cristo Fernández reprising his role as a bartender, while also portraying his version from the SSU. Reid Scott, who previously portrayed Dr. Dan Lewis in the first two Venom films, voices the head of Imperium. Serkis portrays the character Knull, the creator of the symbiotes, in the film. Marcel said that while The Last Dance concludes the story arc of Eddie and Venom, it sets up Knull for future appearances within the SSU and is the beginning of that character's story. The film received a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed over $478 million worldwide, making it the second most successful film in the franchise after the original Venom. Despite the critical reception, the film was commercially successful, and Sony continued to develop other projects within the universe, including Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web. By the end of 2024, Sony stopped developing further films to focus on its other Spider-Man properties, such as the live-action Sony Pictures Television series Spider-Noir, which is set in the same shared universe. The franchise has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, but the critical reception of the later films has raised questions about the long-term viability of the Sony's Spider-Man Universe.In May 2017, Sony Pictures officially announced a shared universe that would feature Spider-Man villains, heroes, and antiheroes, yet the web-slinger himself would never appear on screen as a main character. This contradiction defined the entire enterprise from its inception, creating a franchise built around a character whose rights were owned by the studio but whose presence was deliberately kept at arm's length. Sony Pictures, which had acquired the film rights to Spider-Man decades earlier, began developing an expanded universe featuring supporting characters from the Spider-Man films by December 2013. The studio planned to use The Amazing Spider-Man 2, released in 2014, to launch several spin-off films focused on Spider-Man villains from the comics, including a Venom film. However, after the relative critical and financial disappointment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, these plans were abandoned, and in February 2015, Sony announced a deal to collaborate with Marvel Studios on future Spider-Man films and integrate the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This relationship produced Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, and Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, while Sony separately re-developed Venom in 2018 as a stand-alone film with its own fictional universe. The resulting entity, known as the Sony's Spider-Man Universe, became a unique experiment in Hollywood where the titular hero was absent from the very films that bore his name.
The Venom Pivot
The turning point for the entire franchise arrived in March 2016 when Sony revived its long-in-development Venom film, envisioning it as a standalone project unrelated to Sony and Marvel's new Spider-Man films. A year later, Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner were writing the screenplay, and in May 2017, Sony announced that Tom Hardy would star as Eddie Brock / Venom in the film, to be directed by Ruben Fleischer. Kelly Marcel later joined as an additional writer, and filming took place from October 2017 to January 2018, in Atlanta, New York City, and San Francisco. The producers wanted to focus on telling a standalone story with Venom, rather than having it introduce crossover opportunities for future films, yet the film does include a post-credits scene featuring a clip from Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that reveals that the Venom universe is part of the Spider-Verse, a shared multiverse. This was added because Sony and the producers of Venom were excited by the possibility of crossovers between the live-action and animated films after seeing the quality of Into the Spider-Verse. The film was released on the 5th of October 2018, and despite receiving mixed reviews, it was commercially successful, grossing over $856 million worldwide. This success allowed Sony to move forward with its plans to build out a new universe gradually rather than rush in as they had previously tried with the Amazing Spider-Man spin-offs. Sony Pictures president Sanford Panitch explained that they were looking to do what's the absolute best for each individual property, hoping that individual filmmakers would give each film its own distinct style rather than having a single person in charge of the universe, as with the MCU's Kevin Feige. The studio also wanted to avoid conventional comic-book movies, with the intention of dealing in different genres such as horror or comedy, potential R-rated films, and even lower-than-usual budgets, depending on each project.
The Multiverse Bridge
The connection between Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was forged through a series of mid-credits scenes that utilized the multiverse concept to link the two franchises. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange casts two spells: one that brings characters from other universes into the MCU, and one that sends them back to their own universes. The mid-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage shows Venom being transported into the MCU from his universe by the first spell, and the mid-credits scene of No Way Home shows Venom being transported back to his own universe by the second spell. A small part of the Venom symbiote is left in the MCU. Feige said there was significant coordination between the Let There Be Carnage and No Way Home teams to create the two scenes, with No Way Home director Jon Watts directing both scenes during production of that film. In the mid-credits scenes of Morbius, taking place simultaneously with the events of No Way Home, Adrian Toomes / Vulture is revealed to have been transported to the SSU by the same spell, meeting with Morbius in an effort to form a team. This scene was filmed during reshoots to explain how Keaton's Toomes could be interacting with Morbius, a non-MCU character. Sony was forced to adjust these plans after the film, which was originally completed for an initial 2020 release before several multiverse-focused MCU projects like No Way Home, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until after No Way Home. By August 2019, Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Company had spent several months discussing expanding their deal with Sony, with the latter seeking to include more films than originally agreed while keeping the same terms of the original agreement. Disney expressed concern with Feige's workload producing the non-Spider-Man MCU films already, and asked for a 25, 50% stake in any future films Feige produces for Sony. Unable to agree, Sony announced that it would be moving forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel. They acknowledged that this could change in the future, thanked Feige for his work on Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, and stated that they appreciated the path Feige has helped put us on, which we will continue. The Hollywood Reporter added that the end of the studios' agreement almost certainly meant that Holland's Spider-Man would no longer appear in MCU films, but significantly increased the chances of the character crossing over with the rest of Sony's own Marvel films such as the Venom franchise and the then-in-production Morbius.
The Critical Collapse
Despite the commercial success of the Venom films, the franchise suffered a severe critical backlash with the release of Morbius in 2022 and Madame Web in 2024. Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the title character, received a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for multiple Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor. The film was released on the 1st of April 2022, and despite these connections, the producers intended to tell a standalone origin story for Morbius as they did with Venom. Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson, was released on the 14th of February 2024, and received a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the lowest-rated superhero films of all time. The film is set in 2003, and features Emma Roberts and Adam Scott as Mary and Ben Parker, with Mary Parker pregnant in the film, which depicts the birth of Peter Parker. Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, was released on the 13th of December 2024, and received a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, further cementing the franchise's reputation for critical failure. The franchise has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, but by the end of 2024, Sony stopped developing further films to focus on its other Spider-Man properties, such as the live-action Sony Pictures Television series Spider-Noir, which is set in the same shared universe. A subsequent Variety report noted that Sony had privately acknowledged that Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and fellow SSU film Morbius were creative and critical failures and that they needed to re-evaluate which Spider-Man characters were given their own film franchises. Variety stated that while Sony had not technically established an official shared universe because it did not connect their narratives, the studio was not likely to stop making films for other characters, such as Venom, which were successful.
The Television Expansion
Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra stated in March 2019 that the universe would be expanding to television with a set of Marvel projects developed specifically by Sony Pictures Television. At the time, the studio was essentially internally auditioning characters from the 900 it could access to decide which medium they would appear in, with Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins describing their progress in selecting characters for television as pretty far down the road. Hopkins elaborated that Sony planned to have several series set in the shared universe that could pollinate between each other, and that a yet-to-be-determined network partner would release them. An announcement of this partner was expected within the next few months, with the networks owned by Marvel's parent Disney, including their new streaming service Disney+, being considered alongside others. These television plans were attributed to the success of Venom and Into the Spider-Verse, which bolstered confidence that there's an appetite for Sony's slice of Marvel. After their work on Into the Spider-Verse, Lord and Miller signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television in April 2019 to develop multiple television series for the studio, including their Marvel-based series, which could potentially include characters from Into the Spider-Verse as well as live-action properties. Select projects would be produced in conjunction with Pascal. Discussing these series in August, Miller could not update where or when the series would be released but said there would be several live-action series and they would each be a unique experience with connections to the others. The next month, Vinciquerra said there were five or six individual series in development for the universe. By January 2020, one of these series was believed to be a version of Silver & Black after development on that film was canceled in August 2018. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who co-wrote and was going to direct the film version before it was canceled, confirmed in April 2020 that Silver & Black was being re-developed for television. She suggested that it could be a limited series, and had the potential to be released on Disney+. That June, former Marvel Television and Marvel Studios television executive Karim Zreik was made head of television for Lord and Miller, putting him in charge of all their planned series, including the Marvel-based ones. The latter were described as a priority for Sony Pictures Television, and Zreik's experience with previous Marvel television series made him a suitable partner for planning them.
The Noir Reimagining
In February 2023, a television series based on the character Spider-Man Noir entered development from Sony and Amazon, with Oren Uziel writing the series and executive producing with Pascal, Lord, and Miller. Development was put on hold in May by the writers' strike and was set to resume after it ended. Lord and Miller said there was potential for Nicolas Cage to portray the titular role in the series after he previously voiced the character in Into the Spider-Verse. In December, Steve Lightfoot was hired to serve as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Uziel, and Cage was in talks for the title role by February 2024. The series was officially ordered and titled Noir in May 2024, when Cage's casting was confirmed and Harry Bradbeer joined to direct and executive produce the first two episodes. That July, the series was retitled Spider-Noir to better highlight its connections to the Spider-Man universe. Filming took place in Los Angeles from August 2024 to March 2025. In December 2025, Cage was revealed to be portraying Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, the identity of Spider-Man Noir in the comics. Spider-Noir is set in an alternate universe based on 1930s New York City. The series was set to debut in the United States on MGM+ before releasing internationally and in the United States on Amazon Prime Video, and will consist of eight episodes. Amazon was no longer moving forward with Silk: Spider Society by May 2024, when they instead chose to first proceed with greenlighting the Spider-Man Noir series, titled Spider-Noir, with Nicolas Cage reprising his role as the character from Into the Spider-Verse, though he is named Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, the identity of Spider-Man Noir in the comics and Spider-Verse films. Amazon returned the rights to Spider Society to Sony so that the studio could shop it to other potential networks. Amazon remained committed to their Marvel series with Sony, while Kang retained her overall deal with Amazon and was set to continue working on other projects for their studio. The Hollywood Reporter noted it was unclear if Sony could shop the series to Disney, which had previously released several Marvel-based television series. Sony was not expected to renew its deal with Lord and Miller by August 2024 after the duo disagreed with the studio over the budget for Spider-Noir.
The Final Dance
In August 2018, Hardy confirmed that he had signed on to star in three Venom films. Andy Serkis expressed interest in returning to direct another Venom film in September 2021, and that December, Pascal said they were in the planning stages of a third Venom film. Sony confirmed the film was in development at CinemaCon in April 2022. In June, Hardy revealed that Kelly Marcel was writing the script and that he was co-writing the story with her, and Marcel was set to direct that October. Filming began in late June 2023 in Spain, but was halted the next month due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming resumed in November following the strike's conclusion, and was nearly completed by February 2024. The title was revealed the following month. Venom: The Last Dance was released on the 25th of October 2024. The film continues directly from the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Eddie and Venom return from the MCU to the SSU, with Cristo Fernández reprising his role as a bartender, while also portraying his version from the SSU. Reid Scott, who previously portrayed Dr. Dan Lewis in the first two Venom films, voices the head of Imperium. Serkis portrays the character Knull, the creator of the symbiotes, in the film. Marcel said that while The Last Dance concludes the story arc of Eddie and Venom, it sets up Knull for future appearances within the SSU and is the beginning of that character's story. The film received a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed over $478 million worldwide, making it the second most successful film in the franchise after the original Venom. Despite the critical reception, the film was commercially successful, and Sony continued to develop other projects within the universe, including Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web. By the end of 2024, Sony stopped developing further films to focus on its other Spider-Man properties, such as the live-action Sony Pictures Television series Spider-Noir, which is set in the same shared universe. The franchise has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, but the critical reception of the later films has raised questions about the long-term viability of the Sony's Spider-Man Universe.