Saving the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not one and the same as getting Sony’s consecutive misfires with Marvel characters out of a tight spot. Even though redemption and reclamation have been the anthem the Marvel Studios have embraced to flip the script on their deadbeat rollout slate, despite a similar trial in Sony’s universe of comic characters, it has barely stepped aside from the bottom ranks. With its embarrassing hat-trick with Kraven the Hunter’s plummeting after Venom: The Last Dance and Madame Web, industry insiders have found its sore spot—the absence of Spider-Man.

Speaking of Spider-Man and Sony’s ill fate with Marvel characters, it may have been the first time a proper analysis was summoned to identify the Achilles heel.

Kraven the Hunter hit the cinematic shelves on December 13, and whoever watched it saw Kraven experiencing a hallucinating sequence toward the end, surrounded by an infestation of spiders. The elephant in Sony's room is Spider-Man, Kraven’s arch-nemesis in the comics. While some think this is as close as the character will get to tangling with Spidey, Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock outlined to Variety how his repeated absence makes up for Sony’s “fatal flaw” because these characters are famous for going against the web-slinger. 

Bock assumes that the success Sony saw with Venom films “kind of spoiled everything for them” by convincing them they can triumph with every spin-off of these characters. “I don’t think they realized that Venom could carry a franchise, whereas these other characters could not,” Bock stated. Another top executive cited the inherent lack of “flexibility” in Sony which has them caged on focusing on “one good movie at a time.” 

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While Kraven the Hunter’s disastrous projections already had the studio retracing its steps, a Sony source recently pointed out a key precursor of the deal many have overlooked.

According to Variety’s latest report, citing a Sony source, the deal between Disney and Sony never ruled out the latter from involving the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in its movies that did not have his name. However, a unanimous feeling among the studio members barred his inclusion because they felt the comic geeks would not buy the web-slinger popping out of nowhere in a live-action film that is not a Marvel Cinematic Universe project.

This conviction increased, especially after a few flicks established a hard-to-pierce boundary to the Marvel multiverse. Although Sony’s adventures of Marvel characters practically revolve around the web-slinger, a veteran producer believes it is almost cynical that the spin-offs do not even include the character, contributing to the idea of sleazy maneuvers. So, moving forward, all comic geeks can hope is for Sony to pick up the crumbs because, without that effort, no marvelous entry may be destined.

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