Sony Puts Brakes on Knull Movie and All Live-Action Spider-Man Spin-Offs

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It appears that a Marvel film focusing on a significant comic book villain has allegedly been put on hold, with production not yet starting. Unfortunately, the expansive Marvel universe has faced numerous challenges in recent times, including the MCU grappling with financial issues at the box office over the past three years. Yet, this isn’t the only Marvel series encountering problems, as another collection of movies have been battling difficulties for a longer period.

It’s been reported by insider Daniel Richtman that Sony Pictures seems to have temporarily halted its plans for making a Knull movie, as well as all other live-action spin-offs within the Spider-Man Universe connected to Sony. This decision might be due to the fact that the recently announced Sony films for 2024 (Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter) didn’t achieve significant success in terms of reviews or box office performance.

As a passionate movie critic, I had high expectations for Knull’s introduction in the Venom franchise following Andy Serkis’ captivating performance in Venom: The Last Dance. However, Knull’s role was rather limited in this installment. This cosmic villain is none other than the ruler of symbiotes, with Venom, Toxin, Scream, and many others tracing their origins back to him. In the upcoming film, we can anticipate delving into his intriguing backstory, unraveling how he came to power and created all symbiote life on his home planet through sheer force.

As a cinephile looking back, I can’t help but reflect on the six-year journey of Sony’s Spider-Man universe that graced our screens. The franchise, comprising the Venom trilogy, Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter, is now drawing to a close. Regrettably, none of these films managed to secure a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score above 57%, and collectively, they only earned a total of $2.1 billion at the box office. Moving forward, it seems other projects in the pipeline from Sony Pictures have been put on hold with this decision.

Every Marvel-Sony Movie That’s Now Seemingly on Pause

Hypno Hustler

Back in 2022, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it was initially planned that Donald Glover, from Spider-Man: Homecoming, would step into a fresh character within the expansive Spider-Verse for a Hypno Hustler film. At that point, neither a script nor a director had been assigned, but Myles Murphy, son of renowned movie legend Eddie Murphy, was scheduled to pen the screenplay.

Debuting in 1978, the enigmatic antagonist known as Hypno Hustler emerged, possessing a unique skill to hypnotize victims through his guitar playing. In his civilian identity, Antoine Desolin, frontman of the band Mercy Killers, was revealed; this group consisted of criminals who utilized their music for theft during performances. After the initial announcement of a film, subsequent updates regarding its progress were not reported.

El Muerto

At CinemaCon 2022, Sony Pictures unveiled plans for a film titled “El Muerto,” featuring two-time Grammy-winning rapper Bad Bunny in the main character’s role. In the comics, El Muerto appears only a few times and is a wrestler with superpowers. His father was killed by a divine wrestling figure with the power to take El Muerto’s life as well, unless he followed the path of heroism.

During its development, the movie encountered several issues, one of which was a conflict between Bad Bunny’s touring schedule and the initial filming dates for the project. With constant questions about the feasibility of El Muerto, it seems unlikely that this vision will be realized.

Jackpot

2020 marked the first mention of Sony engaging Marc Guggenheim, creator of Arrowverse, to pen a film focusing on the relatively unknown Marvel character Jackpot. Initially portrayed as Sara Ehret, a pregnant scientist researching gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, she was later infected with a virus that altered her DNA and bestowed upon her extraordinary abilities such as superhuman strength and agility.

Regrettably, since the initial announcement of this film, there hasn’t been any new information regarding its production – a fact that would have marked Jackpot’s debut in the glamour of Tinseltown.

Olivia Wilde’s Untitled Movie

In August 2020, reports surfaced that Olivia Wilde, known for directing ‘Don’t Worry Darling’, was hired by Sony to helm an unnamed superhero movie within their Spider-Man Universe. Although details about the main character or storyline remain undisclosed, there are whispers suggesting that the film could focus on Jessica Drew’s character, Spider-Woman.

Since then, Wilde has been involved in numerous other film projects, but there’s been no progress in her work related to the Spider-Man universe.

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2025-06-28 11:36