Everything Everywhere One at a Time
While Marvel and DC’S universes falter, Sony’s superhero slate is leaning into stand-alone stories
It’s not the best time in Hollywood to be a cinematic universe. DC just flattened its own so studio chief James Gunn can reboot the timeline. Marvel Studios is licking its wounds after streaming busts and box office duds. Each banner only has one theatrical feature (“Joker: Folie à Deux” and “Deadpool 3,” respectively) slated for 2024.
Sony Pictures, however, has three lined up, emerging as this year’s leader in the superhero space. But unlike Disney and Warner Bros., Sony isn’t presenting its films as installments in a years-spanning narrative architecture.
“There may be some hesitation to emphasize the interconnectedness of these movies,” says Jeff Gomez, an executive transmedia producer and CEO of Starlight Runner. Gomez worked with Sony as a story consultant when the studio rebooted “Spider-man” in 2017, casting Tom Holland and agreeing to co-produce with Disney. “They’ve talked about it before, and it didn’t work out.” Post-credits teasers bridging Sony’s films to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe via interdimensional travel have been seen as half-hearted and, ultimately, unsuccessful.
Those appendages aside, Sony has largely minimized the interconnected nature of its superhero films, even as the studio draws more heavily from the well of Spidey-based characters that it licenses. The run began with 2018’s “Venom,” an edgy-but-funny origin story that was a commercial smash, grossing more than $850 million. A sequel followed, along with the ongoing “Spider-verse” animated films.
This year, Sony’s calendar has aligned for its busiest superhero slate yet, offering two origin stories followed by “Venom 3” in November. Each production is being sold as a self-contained endeavor, with its own aesthetic touch and no franchise catch-up needed.
Up first is “Madame Web” on Valentine’s Day. Set in 2003, the film stars Dakota Johnson as a clairvoyant who leads three teenage girls with supernatural abilities. The cast boasts rising stars like Sydney Sweeney, but Johnson’s conspicuous jump from WME to CAA in November — just days after a baffling first trailer debuted — raised industry eyebrows. And though this is a solo outing, her character’s interdimensional powers suggest potential for future adaptations.
“Madame Web, in the comics, tied together the multiverse for ‘Spider-man’ characters,” Gomez says. “The purpose of doing that movie — I would think — would be to establish a superhighway between universes.”
“Kraven the Hunter” follows in August. The gangster film is directed by J.C. Chandor, who has earned auteur cred for crime dramas like “A Most Violent Year.” At last year’s Cinemacon, “Kraven” star Aaron Taylor-johnson took the stage to bellow, “Fuck yeah, it will be rated R!” The trailer promises a bloody romp — potential cause for fan celebration after grumbling about the “Venom” franchise sticking to PG-13. But comic buffs might also expect a few Spider-man Easter eggs in a movie about one of the hero’s most notorious foes.
“If ‘Kraven’ doesn’t allude to the greater ‘Spider-man’ universe or help to set up what’s going to happen, then it had better be a rocking good movie,” Gomez says.
“Rocking good” would mark a welcome change of pace. Beyond the “Spider-verse” series, Sony’s spinoffs haven’t been critical darlings. Yet they have largely proved commercial victories — due in part to comparatively modest price tags. While budgets at Warner Bros. and Disney regularly balloon above $200 million, Sony has turned around superhero features for a fraction of that.
That’s what gave a franchise nonstarter like 2022’s “Morbius” a viable path out of the red. Like that film, “Madame Web” cost less than $100 million to produce, while “Kraven” came in a bit north of that.
Measured financial risks allow Sony to introduce new characters without having to invest in a cinematic universe. At Cinemacon 2022, the studio brought Bad Bunny onstage to announce “El Muerto,” which would follow a superhuman luchador to be played by the singer. But his conflicting tour and script revisions now have the project back in development — without a star on the books.
Whether or not “El Muerto” comes to fruition, its stand-alone nature is the model that Sony is applying to comic book films. Amid unease that cinematic universes may have grown too expansive, Sony looks to woo viewers via contained narratives — you know, the way blockbusters used to do.