Sony hit the jackpot when it bought the rights to Spider-Man from Marvel Comics during the Comics’ yesteryears. Marvel Comics was almost going bankrupt when Sony saved the day. But it came at a heavy cost. Marvel’s Flagship superhero – the friendly neighborhood Spiderman was sold to another studio.
So when Marvel finally stood back on its feet to start the MCU under Disney, Spiderman could no longer be a part of it.
A ray of hope came in early 2017. Negotiations between Sony and Disney were reportedly taking place to bring back Spiderman to the home team. The results were every Marvel Fans dream come true. Peter Parker became a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe via Captain America: Civil War where he was picked up by Tony Stark aka Iron Man to fight along side him against Team Cap. He agreed, put up a brave face and showed Marvel fans what he is capable of.
It was followed by the solo movie “Spiderman: Homecoming” based on the 1960’s comic book written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The title was so apt as the movie entrenched the character into the MCU. Tony Stark played a mentor to him as he was struggling to balance between his life as high school student and a neighborhood superhero.
He was gifted a new suit designed by Stark industries loaded with amazing features such as web wings, spider tracers, strong metallic armor, mechanical web shooters etc. which he used to take down the Vulture. While fans rejoiced over Spidey’s homecoming, Sony was left with one big dilemma – What to do with the rest of the Spider-Verse?
The Spider-Verse is Spiderman and all his related supporting characters and supervillains. Together they make up almost twenty percent of the Marvel Universe. But Disney did not buy back the Spider-Verse, they only bought Spiderman. Sony still had the rights to the entire Spider-Verse barring the epicenter that was the Web-slinger.
So Sony did the only thing that was possible. They decided to expand the Spider-verse into a full-blown shared universe like the MCU and DCEU. This universe will feature the villains and anti-heroes of Spiderman lore and each of them will now star in their own movie.
Let us take a look at the ongoing projects of spinoff movies by Sony under the Spider-Verse banner…
Venom:
The Venom movie already has a release date of October 5th, 2018. So we definitely know it is happening. It will star none other than Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock used to be Peter Parker’s journalistic rival until Peter outs one of his photos as fake which then destroys his career. As Eddie considers suicide, Peter who is above the building trying to let go of the Venom Symbiote bonded to him catches his attention. The Venom Symbiote then let’s go off Peter Parker and latches on to Eddie who then becomes the villain known as Venom.
Venom will be played by an A-list actor Tom Hardy who is one of the most sought-after guys in Hollywood. He played Bane in Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and had undergone a massive physical transformation. He is heavily working out for this role as well, his trainers described him as someone who would go the extra mile without complaining. Here is what they said:
“Most people, you give them the choice, they will always take the easy option. You want more? No, I’m OK.’ But not Tom. There’s always room for one more.”
They confirmed the villain of the movie as well and added:
“What the world is going to see is one of the darkest, most powerful supervillains that Marvel has ever created. It’s going to be carnage.”
Venom used to be an asshole. He was a darker version of Spiderman who posses all his abilities and powers except spider senses. He can adapt to any environment and evolve accordingly as he is basically an alien with superpowers. He can embody all the abilities of his opponents as well which makes him an unstoppable monster. He can generate endless webbing and never runs out of webs, unlike Amazing Spiderman who sometimes did run out of webs as he would manufacture them.
But he then later mends his ways to become a sort of noble anti-hero. The movie will focus on Venom and his battle against the Life Foundation – on an organization that wants to experiment on the Venom Symbiote. The movie is reportedly based on the Lethal Protector Storyline and features Michelle Williams and Anne Weying, Venom’s ex-wife and the She-Venom in the comic books. She first appeared in The Amazing Spiderman #375 as the ex-wife of Eddie Brock, a successful lawyer turned into Bride of Venom.
In this particular plot, Spider-man plays an important role but it is confirmed now that there will not be a crossover between Spider-man movies and Venomverse at the moment and this universe is outside the ambit of MCU, hence many changes need to be incorporated. For instance, Here is what you need to know before you go see the movie:
“Before the story begins, Venom makes an agreement with Spider-Man that they will leave each other alone, on the condition that Venom commits no crimes. Venom then moves from New York City to San Francisco and takes up with a group of Californian mole people. Shortly thereafter the father of one of Venom’s victims seeks him out with a group of super-powered mercenaries to take revenge. Spider-Man, seeing misleading coverage of Venom on television, heads to San Francisco to confront him and instead winds up fighting along side Venom against five new offspring of the Venom Symbiote: Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony.”
Silver & Black:
Sony’s Silver 7 Black has a release date slated for February 8th, 2019. Gina Prince Bythewood will be its director and filming is set to start next year in Atlanta. Not much is known about the movie apart from the fact that it will feature two of Marvel Comics’ criminally underrated (and hottest) villains of the Spider-Verse – Black Cat and Silver Sable.
Black Cat aka Felicia Hardy is a love interest of Peter Parker and has cat-like abilities. Silver Sable is the queen of a European nation who leads a team of mercenaries called the Wild Pack. The movie will feature the two at odds against each other. What makes this venture interesting is the fact that it is supposed to give several nods to Norman Osborn and Jessica Drew better known as the Spider-Verse’s Green Goblin and Spider-Woman respectively.
Morbius: The Living Vampire
Morbius was first introduced to Marvel Universe in Amazing-Spiderman #101, the first issue that Stan Lee was not a part of. Morbius was originally a scientist whose experiments on him by using a combination of electro-shock therapy and Vampire bats go awry. He then transforms into a vampire that feeds on human blood.
Apparently, the MCU is also interested in using Morbius as the main villain in their Spiderman: Homecoming sequel. But Sony has already written a script and are rumored to be going forward with the project.
Kraven:
Kraven is one of Spiderman’s deadliest foes in the comic books. First created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1964, Kraven became an instant hit. Kraven is a superhuman who after getting bored of hunting big game animals in the Jungles of Africa, decides to up his game – hunting Superhumans. His first target was Spiderman and he almost succeeded in capturing him. In more ways than one, Kraven is more dangerous and deadlier than Venom.
The modern version of Kraven is a conflicted soul with a complex and layered character development. If Sony is actually working on a Karven Spinoff, we hope it is the modern take they use as a template.
Mysterio:
Mysterio is a master magician who has used his inane gifts of trickery to play spoilsport for Spiderman several times in the comic books. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Mysterio in the 60s. Mysterio was supposed to appear in Sam Raimi’s now-canceled Spiderman 4. Sony is reportedly working on a Mysterio project alongside Kraven’s spin-off.
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