Kraven the Hunter Proves One Thing: Sony’s Approach to Making Spider-Man Movies Without Spider-Man Is Deeply Flawed

Just a few months after the release of Venom: The Last Dance, the new installment of Sony’s Spider-Verse is finally in theaters. However, unlike the last Venom, Kraven the Hunter is facing a bleak outlook. It took a disappointing $11 million in its opening weekend, marking the worst debut in the franchise, even below Madame Web ($15.3 million).

The end of an era. Days before the release, there was a sense of impending disaster. The Wrap even predicted that Kraven the Hunter could mark the conclusion of this unusual series of Spider-Man movies without Spider-Man himself. Naturally, the analysis was based on intuition, but given the scale of losses Sony has faced in the past, it gained some credibility. The logic behind this prediction is compelling, especially considering the complicated history between Marvel and Sony.

Spider-Man films. Spider-Man has a long history of adaptations. The first films were actually rehashes of the late 1970s TV series. During that time, there was also the Japanese Spider-Man series by Toei Company, where the superhero fought Power Rangers-like monsters. It wasn’t until 1999 that Sony acquired the rights to adapt the Marvel Comics character.

The Spider-Man classics. Sony created two animated series and produced five movies featuring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. However, everything changed with the emergence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In February 2015, an agreement was reached that allowed Spider-Man to appear as a secondary character in Marvel films, while Sony retained the right to produce its own films featuring Spider-Man and his classic villains.

This arrangement led to a string of movies centered around several nemeses. In September 2015, the deal was renewed, resulting in the creation of Tom Holland’s most successful film to date, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Additionally, there are the two (soon to be three) outstanding animated Spider-Verse films, which are expected to expand into multiple spin-offs.

The villain fiasco. Sony’s plan initially seemed successful until it veered off course. The company began producing Spider-Man movies without Spider-Man. The temptation to create its own cinematic universe, particularly with one of the key characters from the existing Marvel universe, was too strong.

Following the success of Venom, it became evident that Sony was moving in this direction. Post-credits scenes linked elements from Spider-Man films, such as bringing together villains like Michael Keaton’s Vulture (from Holland’s first movie) and Jared Leto’s Morbius. Sony was clearly connecting Spider-Man to this new subset of films.

The numbers look bad. Below, we break down the box office performance of films in this unconventional Spider-Verse franchise:

• Venom (2018) - Budget: $100-116 million / Gross: $856.1 million
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)- Budget: $110 million / Gross: $506.8 million
• Morbius (2022) - Budget: $75-83 million / Gross: $167.5 million
• Madame Web (2024) - Budget: $100 million / Gross: $100.5 million

Venom: The Last Dance (2024) - Budget: $120 million / Gross: $472.9 million

Despite what it looks like at first glance, the box office performance of Venom: The Last Dance has been underwhelming. It launched with much lower grosses during its opening weekend compared to its predecessors and relied heavily on international box office sales to boost its total. The performances of the other films have been similarly disappointing, compounded by confusing setbacks like the re-release of Morbius.

A faded franchise. Given these circumstances, the responsibility of reviving the franchise now rests on Kraven the Hunter. However, it would require a complete overhaul in terms of concept, aesthetics, and content to make it successful. Director J. C. Chandor recently said in an interview that if a sequel were to happen, it would adapt Kraven’s Last Hunt, one of the most iconic Spider-Man stories. It appears that no one has told him that to do so, he would need, well, Spider-Man.

Image | Sony/Marvel

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