While Spider-Man: Brand New Day has just finished dominating the box office during its opening weekend, and it seems set to continue shattering box office records moving forward, Sony is recognizing that one part of their larger Spider-Man franchise just isn’t working: the live-action spinoff movies. It’s no secret that Sony’s live-action spinoffs have not done well over the last several years. In fact, the 2024 movie Madame Web currently has an abysmal 10% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and 2022’s Morbius is barely better at 15%—meaning it’s exactly tied with 2024’s Kraven the Hunter.
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Considering that Brand New Day currently has a 90% with critics and 98% with audiences, it’s clear that something is working in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies that isn’t translating in Sony’s live-action spinoffs, and now, Sony is saying the quiet part out loud. According to Variety, CEO of Sony Tom Rothman said that, in terms of projects further developing Sony’s Marvel characters, “At the moment, there are none in active development.” Of the previous spinoffs, he said, “Ultimately, the audience wasn’t satisfied enough with them. Whether that’s a fair assessment of those movies, who knows. That’s howling into the wind. The audience is the boss, and they didn’t respond. It’s as simple as that.” However, Marvel fans aren’t ready to give up; instead, they have an idea for these stories moving forward.
Marvel Fans Want the MCU to Have the Rights to These Characters
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While most Marvel fans may agree that the Sony Spider-Man spinoff films have largely been flops (although the Venom movies generally did better than their counterparts), they’re not necessarily in favor of tossing the characters out overall. Instead, one X post about Rothman’s comments is full of responses emphasizing one thing in particular: a desire for the rights to go to the MCU. One comment reads, “Sony should let MCU use those villains now,” another says, “Let MCU use them please,” and yet another, slightly more emphatic reply says, “GOOD! NOW SELL THE RIGHTS BACK AFTER SPIDERVERSE 3!”
Clearly, some interest remains in these characters, but unfortunately for Sony, it seems like that interest might be primarily with seeing what the MCU could do with them. Whether this is actually on the table is dubious. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like Sony, Marvel, and Disney have a fairly symbiotic—pun intended—relationship, but it’s of course impossible to say what goes on behind closed boardroom doors. Even if they do work well together, though, it’s another matter entirely for Sony to consider giving over the rights to these properties, and that seems very unlikely to happen.
Never say never, though, as stranger things have certainly happened. Perhaps some mutually beneficial deal could be struck and offer a fresh take on these villains that might have a slightly better chance of landing with audiences. However, it’s worth noting that the MCU hasn’t exactly had a perfect track record either, especially since Avengers: Endgame concluded the Infinity Saga. One box office success shouldn’t give MCU fans rose-colored glasses.
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