As a seasoned critic with over two decades of movie-watching under my belt and a particular fondness for superhero films, I must say that “Kraven the Hunter” left me feeling as dry as a desert spider waiting for its next prey. The film’s lackluster performance at the box office is not surprising, given the long line of unsuccessful attempts by Sony Pictures to launch a standalone franchise from secondary Spider-Man characters.
In my latest movie review, Sony Pictures’ Marvel offering “Kraven the Hunter” sees our title anti-hero, portrayed with rippling muscles by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, undergo a spine-tingling delusion. This delusion finds him enveloped by an army of spiders – a chilling nod to his most formidable foe from Marvel comics: the one and only Spider-Man.
It’s highly likely that this character, as portrayed by Taylor-Johnson, will come the closest they ever will to facing off with Spiderman.
The upcoming movie “Kraven” is predicted to have one of the lowest opening weekends among Marvel superhero films, marking the third failed attempt by Sony Pictures to launch a standalone franchise based on secondary Spider-Man characters. Following “Morbius” in 2022 starring Jared Leto and “Madame Web” from last February with Dakota Johnson, this box office struggle suggests that Sony’s efforts in this area may be coming to an end. This insider knowledge at Sony attributes this trend to a general overestimation of the power of superheroes in the film industry, which has ultimately led to a decrease in the genre’s dominance at the box office.
What it does not signify, however, is the end of Sony’s Marvel Universe.
To be honest, it’s essential to clarify that what we often refer to as the “Sony Marvel Universe” or “Sony Spider-Man Universe” isn’t technically accurate. In contrast to the carefully crafted narratives of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the revamped DC Universe, Sony hasn’t intentionally woven a coherent narrative thread across their comic book adaptations. Instead, they’ve labeled their superhero films with a more casual, less formal phrase – “Sony’s universe of Marvel characters.
In addition, Sony continues to be heavily engaged in creating Spider-Man movies, the cherished Marvel character who initiated the modern age of superhero films with 2002’s “Spider-Man”. The forthcoming Spider-Man movie featuring Tom Holland is scheduled to begin filming in 2025, in collaboration with Marvel Studios (further details will be discussed later); the animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is currently being produced and will wrap up the Academy Award-winning trilogy centered around Miles Morales; and Sony is developing a live-action “Spider-Man Noir” series for Amazon Prime Video, starring Nicolas Cage.
I, a passionate advocate for the Venom franchise, firmly stand behind the remarkable success of the three Venom films featuring Tom Hardy. Collectively, they’ve amassed an impressive revenue of over $1.8 billion worldwide. Despite the latest installment, “Venom: The Last Dance,” earning lower grosses than its predecessors ($473 million), it’s essential to consider that it was produced on a budget of just $120 million – a relatively modest figure for a superhero movie. Notably, it outperformed the international earnings of 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” Given these facts, it seems financially unwise for Sony to halt the production of Venom movies anytime soon.
However, “Venom” – a movie centered around a well-known character who has left an indelible mark on pop culture – may have led Sony into a misconception that viewers would eagerly watch a film featuring any Spider-Man character, even if Spider-Man himself does not appear in the movie.
According to Jeff Bock from Exhibitor Relations, all these characters gained fame by facing off against Spider-Man. However, Sony encountered a problem after experiencing success with ‘Venom’, as they believed they could independently develop these characters. The issue was that they might not have recognized Venom’s ability to sustain a franchise while the other characters may not have been able to standalone. The absence of Spider-Man in these films turned out to be the critical mistake.
As a passionate cinephile looking back on the past decade in cinema, I can’t help but notice Sony’s ambitious expansion of its superhero universe towards the end of the 2010s. However, the following years saw a significant drop in quality and audience engagement for these projects. The studio found itself in a peculiar predicament – a self-imposed catch-22 – due to an extraordinary agreement with Marvel Studios, which allowed Disney’s Marvel Studios to share Spider-Man within the MCU, starting with “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016 and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” in 2017. This deal, where Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige and former Sony chief Amy Pascal produced the Tom Holland-led Spidey films for Sony Pictures, has been incredibly profitable, raking in worldwide grosses exceeding $3.9 billion. Yet, it also isolated Holland’s Peter Parker from any Sony projects that don’t officially belong to the MCU.
According to a high-ranking executive with a rich background in the superhero genre, collaborating between studios can be quite challenging,” he notes. “Sony appears to lack adaptability. They’re essentially confined within certain boundaries, and they’re primarily focusing on creating one quality film at a time.
A Sony insider reports that the agreement with Disney didn’t stop them from featuring Spider-Man in movies not carrying his title, as the abundance of Peter Parkers, Gwen Stacys, and other Spider-characters in the “Spider-Verse” films demonstrates. However, there was a concern within Sony that fans might reject Tom Holland’s Spiderman appearing in a non-MCU live-action film, particularly following “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and Marvel Studios projects like “Loki” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which clearly defined the boundaries of the Marvel multiverse.
It appears that the postponement of “Morbius,” initially slated for a July 2020 release, had the most significant effect due to its timing, as it followed “No Way Home” and “Doctor Strange 2,” which were released later. This delay necessitated reshoots by Sony, as they needed to find a way to incorporate Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes (introduced in “Homecoming”) into scenes with Jared Leto’s Morbius character, who is not part of the MCU. This plot twist, which seemed innocuous at first, gained significance when the multiverse was introduced, making it a more intriguing connection.
The absence of directly involving Spider-Man in these spin-off movies, leading to the perception that they were just cash grabs, was a significant factor in creating an atmosphere of calculated greed. As a seasoned producer puts it, “The cynicism is palpable; you can sense it from afar. They’re churning out products, and it shows. There seems to be no oversight or attention to detail.
Behind closed doors, Sony’s team members admit that the films “Kraven,” “Madame Web,” and “Morbius” have fallen short creatively and critically (though they still claim that “Morbius,” which earned $167.4 million worldwide, was profitable). In the future, they plan to be more selective about whether or not to develop any of their Spider-Man character franchises further.
Another option exists too; you might consider hiring a different version of Spider-Man. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Tom Holland playing the role.
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2024-12-14 07:16