The Ronin has confirmed that British cinematographer Ben Davis (The King’s Man) has joined the production team for Sony’s Kraven The Hunter, directed by J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tenet, Bullet Train, Avengers: Age of Ultron) playing the titular Marvel Comics character.
It’s certainly an interesting crew addition given that Ben Davis is mostly known for working on Marvel Studios films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron (also starred Taylor-Johnson), Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Eternals.
The project will focus on Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven, a Russian aristocrat turned big-game hunter that becomes a major antagonist of Marvel superhero Spider-Man as a member of The Sinister Six and half-brother of fellow villain The Chameleon.
Kraven The Hunter has a script penned by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Expendables 2) with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway tackling rewrites. The duo of screenwriters aren’t strangers to studio genre projects working on Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone, Transformers: The Last Knight, Men In Black: International, and the upcoming Tom Holland video game movie Uncharted.
Could we see Kraven join the MCU like other Spidey villains?
Well, Davis’ addition isn’t the first time MCU department heads have worked on Spider-Man spinoffs. Matthew Libatique (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) did the cinematography on the first Venom and production designer Stefania Cella (Morbius) recently worked on the Disney+ series Moon Knight.
Deadline reporter Justin Kroll tweeted a list of names that Sony had considered to play Kraven (before Aaron Taylor-Johnson was hired) but they had passed. Those high-profile names were Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix), Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Fight Club, Inglorious Basterds), John David Washington (Tenet), and Adam Driver (House of Gucci, Logan Lucky, Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
Sony Pictures has already given the Spider-Man spinoff a release date of January 13, 2023.
Spider-Man: No Way Home will be swinging into theaters on December 17, but what the future holds for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man isn’t as crystal clear as it was before the hiccups between Sony Pictures and Disney/Marvel. At one point, an extension was nixed and Sony almost moved forward without the help of Marvel Studios.
Tom Holland was able to get the two studios back to the table and the third Spider-Man film was shot, thankfully still takes place within the MCU.
During a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tom Holland gives the impression that the end of the trilogy with Spider-Man: No Way Home, could ultimately be the end of the ride if new deals aren’t made.
“We were all treating [No Way Home] as the end of a franchise, let’s say. I think if we were lucky enough to dive into these characters again, you’d be seeing a very different version. It would no longer be the Homecoming trilogy. We would give it some time and try to build something different and tonally change the films. Whether that happens or not, I don’t know. But we were definitely treating [No Way Home] like it was coming to an end, and it felt like it.”
While there has been plenty of online fan speculation concerning the future of Spider-Man, Holland is currently without an official contract (despite an openness to return) as the actor said he completed it shooting No Way Home. Spider-Man 4 hasn’t been announced by either Sony Pictures or Marvel, alongside any future extension on their co-production deal.
Director Jon Watts is making a movie for Apple Studios that stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, seemingly before he helps Disney/Marvel reboot the Fantastic Four (reportedly doesn’t have a script) for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This doesn’t leave much room for a return to tackle Spider-Man 4 anytime soon, Sony likely won’t wait too long before moving along with the solo films with or without Marvel/Watts.
Fans have simply assumed that Spider-Man: No Way Home will further connect the Sony Spider-Man Universe films to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, if Marvel parts ways with Sony that really doesn’t make much sense given Kevin Feige’s longstanding aversion to other people (even within the Marvel offices) tinkering with his cinematic space without his oversight.
What Sony does with their characters post-Marvel Studios is pretty much anyone’s guess with multiple solo movies on the horizon such as Jared Leto’s Morbius, Tom Hardy’s Venom 3, J.C. Chandor’s Kraven The Hunter led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Olivia Wilde’s untitled but assumed to be Spider-Woman movie.
One plausible scenario that was mentioned when Disney and Sony first walked away from a co-production extension, that Marvel/Sony would partner on Spider-Man 3, giving some finality to the MCU trilogy and then essentially let Sony do what they want with their characters. The Multiverse could easily place Holland’s Spider-Man outside of the main-canon Marvel Cinematic Universe allowing Sony to continue to use those actors, including Tom Holland finally being able to show up in Venom 3 or other spinoffs.
Tackling a version of the Sinister Six and pairing Peter Parker with Doctor Strange certainly feels like bucket list things for Marvel to do before saying goodbye to the character.
Until there is a real announcement of a further extension, we can’t really get too comfortable with the idea future Spider-Man movies will always take place within the Marvel’s established universe. Because Sony was already willing to chug along without them before, I don’t see how that changes if a deal isn’t reached.
While there has been tension in the past, new comments from Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch suggest that the working relationship between Sony and Marvel’s Kevin Feige is “excellent.” This comes from an interview Panitch had with Variety where he mentioned their big Spider-Man plans will be revealed after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December.
PANITCH: “The great thing is we have this very excellent relationship with Kevin. There’s an incredible sandbox there to play with. We want those MCU movies to be absolutely huge, because that’s great for us and our Marvel characters, and I think that’s the same thing on their side. But we have a great relationship. There’s lots of opportunities, I think, that are going to happen.”
Despite those rosy comments, things weren’t always pleasant between the two companies.
In the early days of Marvel shopping the film rights to studios, Sony Pictures famously rejected a deal that could have landed-up the bulk of the Marvel Comics character lineup when Marvel first approached the studio about tackling Spider-Man movies. Those executives obviously had zero imagination about what the future held for the superhero genre and cinematic universes.
When Marvel Studios became successful, Sony Pictures still scoffed at the idea of teaming together to the point that Sony Japan had to tell their film division to a make a deal with Marvel happen after Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to get audiences jazzed about their Spider-Man cinematic universe. Even after the billion-dollar success of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the deal between Disney and Sony dissolved which led to the potential of Sony Pictures moving forward with Spider-Man 3 without the help of Marvel. Luckily, Tom Holland able to get the two studios back to table and is the reason why Spider-Man: No Way Home exists.
After past attitudes mentioned above, it’s not hard to imagine that Sony could be under the impression they can simply copy the Marvel model for themselves without the help of Marvel Studios. The success of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and it’s Oscar win could give the studio a boost of confidence to go solo again. It wouldn’t be the first studio to do so, and Sony already attempted to create their own cinematic universe with plans to make a Sinister Six movie that was one of the main teases from Amazing Spider-Man 2, alongside introducing future Rogue One actress, Felicity Jones, as Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat (another character that was set to get a solo film).
One of the theories about Spider-Man: No Way Home is that it could be a way for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to ease his way out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gracefully with one final film.
The vagueness of the statements from the studio executive aren’t particular helpful either. We’re still kind of in the dark what Sony plans to do after Spider-Man: No Way Home, Panitch suggests they’ll be revealing their big plan after the release of the third Marvel-made solo Spider-Man film, but haven’t been clear if they’ll continue to have Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in the MCU or agree to give Marvel access to other incarnations of the character (Miles Morales etc) allowing them to keep Holland for their own cinematic universe installments.
There is some hope from fans that everything can simply just be consider part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but we’ve examples in the past even at different divisions of Marvel where that wasn’t a simple thing. Marvel Studios Nate Moore mentioned off-handily that the Disney+ shows were the first time that the television and film universes have been cohesive, alluding to the Marvel Television/Loeb era being nixed from MCU hard-canon.
Keeping in mind how the Jeph Loeb era of Marvel shows were blocked from official canon, I personally don’t see how Kevin Feige would suddenly allow Sony’s spinoff films to be so easily accepted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe without his personal oversight on their development and production. Unless Marvel Studios makes or produces these new Sony/Marvel movies I don’t really see how they become part of the hard-canon MCU. Considering that Kevin won’t really be able to oversee quality control, as seen with a bonkers project like Venom.
Speaking of Venom, Sony recently confirmed that Spider-Man won’t appear in the Venom sequel and it’s unclear if films such as Morbius or Kraven The Hunter will include Parker either. Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming showing up in the Morbius trailer has only added to the confusion and fan speculation, the Vulture being a Sony-owned character.
There is also uncertainty about Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman project being part of the MCU, as Marvel wasn’t mentioned as a production partner when it was originally announced and Sony still hasn’t even given the project a title, let alone confirmed that Marvel is working with them on it.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the Marvel and Sony will announce they’ve officially extended their working relationship to other films. There have been rumblings that they’ve worked things out but according to Tom Holland himself he’s finished his existing contract obligations and is willing to re-up if asked to.
If they have a plan it seems odd that Holland doesn’t have a new Spider-Man contract already.
A lot of Spider-Man fans are excited but also slightly confused about what Sony Pictures is actually planning to doing with their Spider-Man franchise and subsequent spinoff films such as Kraven The Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Tenet, Avengers: Age of Ultron) being announced for a release date of January 13, 2023.
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch revealed to Variety that Venom: Let There Be Carnage won’t include Tom Holland’s Spider-Man but reassures that audiences won’t miss the the web-head. However, he went on to clarify they do have a plan that will become more clear after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
PANITCH: “There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it’s getting a little more clear for people where we’re headed and I think when ‘No Way Home’ comes out, even more will be revealed.”
The Sony executive also responded to the possibility of them resurrecting their former plans to make a Sinister Six film, something franchise producer Amy Pascal has said in the past she would be open to revisiting.
PANITCH: “It’s tough, because I think these projects are the kind of things we have to work on in the dark. They’re not ready until they’re ready. Kraven is a great example because we just didn’t rush it. We could have made that three plus years ago. It’s just now the script’s awesome, J.C. was the right choice, and we found the movie star because it was just kismet, and watching this other movie and realizing that could be the perfect casting.”
“It would be very cool, wouldn’t it?”
Drew Goddard (The Martian, Cabin In The Woods) was once attached to make the Sinister Six film until the studio got cold-feet from Amazing Spider-Man 2’s poor reception and they instead pivoted to making a deal with Marvel Studios, rebooting the franchise for a second time with Holland.
There have been wild casting and plot rumors concerning Spider-Man: No Way Home, from key actors from previous films reprising their villain roles to having people like Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire showing up (denied by both Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield in recent interviews). One of the more recent unconfirmed rumblings making the rounds is that we might indeed see an incarnation of the Sinister Six, something a lot of us just assumed was Marvel Studios’ aim once people like Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus) were confirmed for the film that the film was going to build-up to. Bringing back existing actors quietly into those previous roles would allow them to assemble the Sinister Six quickly without have to rehash all their origins eating-up valuable screentime.
However, with most of these rumors, they are coming from multiple online sources (some are indeed creditable), but the information hasn’t actually been backed-up by the trades or confirmed by either Marvel Studios or Sony Pictures. So, it’s been tough to navigate which ones are real and which ones are simply online gossip or speculation. Many fans believe a teaser trailer is on the horizon and could answer a lot of their questions, but given Marvel’s secrecy it’s possible they could continue to hold-off confirming these cast and plot rumors.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is swinging to theaters on December 17, 2021.
Every couple of months film and business trades run speculative interviews with analysts or “activist investors” claiming that Sony Pictures is poised for a big sale to places like Apple, Amazon, or Netflix. None of this is anything but opinion dressed-up as an editorial/interview, instead of based on concrete information or reporting. It usually comes after a shift in the industry like the Walt Disney Company acquiring 21st Century Fox or when telecoms company AT&T got their hands on a media giant like Time-Warner.
After the WarnerMedia-Discovery and Amazon-MGM deals being announced this month, it seems like we should prepare for another run of wild claims and speculation that Sony Pictures is next to be sold-off.
However, that doesn’t seem to be case, according to the person that actually runs the company. There is now a real statement coming from Sony CEO Yoshida Kenichiro while speaking with the Financial Times (via The Hollywood Reporter), Kenichiro says that while they’re open to partner with streaming services they’re not going to sell the film division.
KENICHIRO: “There is drastic realignment in the media industry, but I think our strategy of creating content as an independent studio while working with various partners will work.”
It’s worth mentioning that Sony did strike deals with Netflix and Disney recently, but that has to do with post-theatrical window streaming rights of feature films and they’ve been working towards a television deal with Amazon that includes the Spider-Man spinoff series Silk. These deals will expand their presence in the streaming space, far from an actual acquisition. One of the big reasons for moves like this is that Sony doesn’t have their own streaming service, so, licensing their content to multiple suitors isn’t that surprising as the media landscape changes.
The Hollywood Reporter also added a comment from Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Tony Vinciquerra from the investor day presentation, where he sounded confident that the shows and films in development based on the PlayStation IP will continue the momentum as they have at least ten projects in the pipeline. Those PlayStation projects include Tom Holland’s Uncharted film, an HBO series based on The Last of Us, and a Ghost of Tsushima movie from John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski.
VINCIQUERRA: “The PlayStation project has tremendous momentum with the establishment of PlayStation productions and ten projects already in development.”
They also have a string of their own Marvel films such as J.C. Chandor’s Kraven The Hunter, Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Jared Leto’s vampire flick Morbius. Sony Japan was behind the pressure on the film division to make a deal with Marvel Studios/Disney that led to Tom Holland appearing as Spider-Man in solo films made by Marvel and appearing in their other films as well.
Having a corner of the Marvel Comics rights and developing multiple projects based on their popular PlayStation video game franchises could keep them competitive for the foreseeable future. Franchises like Bad Boys and Jumanji seem to be audience draws the studio can rely on beyond Spider-Man projects.
Yesterday, it was announced that Sony Pictures had selected British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Bullet Train, Avengers: Age of Ultron) to lead their latest Spider-Man spinoff film, Kraven The Hunter. The project will focus on Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven, a Russian aristocrat turned big-game hunter that becomes a major antagonist of Marvel superhero Spider-Man as a member of The Sinister Six and half-brother of fellow villain The Chameleon.
Some of the names rumored for the role were indeed true, as Deadline reporter Justin Kroll tweeted a list of names that Sony Pictures had considered to play Kraven but they had passed. Those high-profile names were Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix), Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Fight Club, Inglorious Basterds), John David Washington (Tenet), and Adam Driver (House of Gucci, Logan Lucky, Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
However, Aaron Taylor-Johnson reportedly “blew away” Sony brass thanks to footage from his latest project, Bullet Train.
Sony had been aiming high from this role approaching everyone from Brad Pitt and Keanu to JDW and Driver to star but sources say recent footage of ATJ in the upcoming action pic Bullet Train, blew away Sony execs who moved fast to offer him the part. https://t.co/K1YlezOgab
I find it interesting that the latter two actors being co-stars in Spike Lee’s Oscar-winning film BlacKkKlansman, the filmmaker had been attached to make a Nightwatch movie for the studio with a script from Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker.
Kraven The Hunter will be directed by J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year, Triple Frontier) from a scripted penned by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Expendables 2) with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway tackling rewrites. The duo of screenwriters aren’t strangers to studio genre projects working on Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone, Transformers: The Last Knight, Men In Black: International, and the upcoming Tom Holland video game movie Uncharted.
Sony is attempting to build their own cinematic universe featuring various Spider-Man friends and foes. Some of those upcoming films consist of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Jared Leto’s vampire flick Morbius, Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman movie, and a Madame Web movie. It remains to be seen of these movies will or will not be directly connected to Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe, as hiring the former Quicksilver actor would suggest that Kraven isn’t connected to the hard-canon MCU.
The Spider-Man spinoff has landed a release date of January 13, 2023 from Sony Pictures and suggests that production could begin by 2022.
Sony Pictures is developing a heap of Marvel movies set within their own Spider-Man cinematic universe with Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius on the horizon. Another big project is one focused on Spidey villain Kraven The Hunter that was written by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk with J.C. Chandor set to director.
Sony has found their Kraven, as The Wrap reports that British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson has landed the titular role in the Marvel spinoff film. The actor isn’t new to comic book adaptations as he played Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron, took the lead role in the two Kick-Ass movies, and has a role in the Kingsman prequel The King’s Man. He most recently joined the cast of David Leitch’s Japanese-set action film Bullet Train that stars Oscar-winner Brad Pitt.
While many people are under the impression that the spinoffs could end up part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s clear that hiring Marvel’s Quicksilver actor is a sign that the two universes aren’t as connected as fans believed.
Many people had been curious why Sony Pictures hadn’t started-up their own streaming service or attempted to sign a deal with an existing streaming player. That has all changed as there is news today via The Hollywood Reporter that Sony and Netflix have signed a lucrative deal giving the them the streaming rights to their feature films starting in 2022 after the theatrical/home video windows.
Sony has inked a multi-year, exclusive first pay window licensing deal in the U.S. that will allow Netflix first pay window rights to Sony Pictures titles following their theatrical and home entertainment windows, the studio announced Thursday. (The typical pay one window is 18 months.)
Over the course of the deal, Netflix has also committed to financing a number of titles from the studio’s motion picture group. These will encompass the films that Sony intends to make directly for streaming from inception or decides at a later point to license for streaming. The announcement notes that Sony’s theatrical output will “continue at its current volume.
Starting in 2022, Netflix will be the first US streaming home for Sony Pictures films following their theatrical releases. Get ready for UNCHARTED, MORBIUS, BULLET TRAIN & WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, plus future sequels to VENOM, JUMANJI, BAD BOYS & SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
The new deal also gives them access to Sony’s Spider-Man franchise which is going to continue to expand for the foreseeable future as they’ll have dibs on future Spider-Man (mentioned by THR) and Venom films. It will seemingly include upcoming spinoff movies such as Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman film, J.C. Chandor’s Kraven The Hunter, Madame Web, Jackpot, Black Cat, Silver Sable, and Nightwatch.
Upcoming releases part of this deal include Uncharted, Morbius, Bullet Train, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2, and other films released within the deal.
There was always a hint that Netflix was going to seek a studio partnership after Disney+ became their main competition and HBO Max started throwing the new releases from the Warner Bros. slate on the streaming service.
It’ll be curious if Netflix will attempt to develop exclusive series based on Sony franchises as well. In September, it was reported that a Silk live-action series was in the works with Amazon being considered with Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Amy Pascal producing. Cindy Moon aka Silk is a spinoff character from Sony’s stable of Spider-Man universe heroes.
You might remember that Marvel Studios almost lost access to Spider-Man not too long ago and that Spider-Man 3 would have been strictly a Sony Pictures affair with Marvel sitting on the sidelines as their initial deal had expired. Luckily, Tom Holland was able to convince both Sony’s Tom Rothman and Disney’s Bob Iger to see eye-to-eye hatching a new smaller deal that would allow Marvel to make Spider-Man 3 and Holland to appear in one more MCU film.
A new rumor coming from The Disinsider Show (via The Direct) suggests that that two-picture deal has seemingly been extended, however, they weren’t forthcoming with details as to how many films are involved along with if Marvel Studios would be getting involved with any of the upcoming Sony Pictures projects like Kraven The Hunter.
While this is very likely given that Marvel would most likely want access to various Sony characters in the future (Miles Morales feels like a no-brainer), as with most rumors take with a pinch of salt. There are a couple of things that might have telegraphed this deal being in the works.
Last week, Kevin Feige confirmed that Spider-Man 3 would directly interconnect with Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness all but confirming yet another crossover there. We’ve assumed for months that this was going to be the MCU film in the second deal given that the productions are close to each other and that Benedict Cumberbatch is confirmed to appear in Spider-Man 3.
It was also announced that Jon Watts will be directing their Fantastic Four reboot after tackling a trilogy of Spider-Man films (second feature film reboot of the hero) and since Spider-Man debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four it wouldn’t terribly shocking if they attempt to at least get a cameo from Peter Parker in there.
A Spider-Woman film is reportedly in the works at Sony Pictures from director Olivia Wilde, which would likely feature Jessica Drew, a character that Marvel Studios is said to have access to as she debuted outside of the Spider-Man comic books having more ties to MCU groups such as S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, S.W.O.R.D., and the Avengers. She also plays a role in the Secret Invasion (now a Disney+ series) as it’s revealed Drew is actually Skrull Queen Veranke and happens to be pals with Carol Danvers in the comics making a crossover into Captain Marvel 2 a strong possibility. While Marvel’s involvement is assumed by fans this has yet to be made official but it’s very likely.
There has been some rumblings that Kraven will appear in Spider-Man 3, but this has yet to be officially confirmed by either trades or Marvel themselves. A solo feature film directed by J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier, A Most Violent Year) has been in the works for some time and if Kraven does appear in Spider-Man 3 might suggest that his solo film might be considered part of the MCU. It’s worth pointing out that Kraven’s development has been taking place even before the Spider-Man 3 drama. At one point, there had been talk that Spider-Man would show up in the film.
Other Marvel projects in the works at Sony include a Madame Web movie from S.J. Clarkson, a Jackpot movie, and a live-action Silk series. They had also once been developing a Sinister Six film with Drew Goddard before the Holland reboot, it’s looking very likely that the group of villains may cameo in the next Spidey pic.
In theory, if there is an extension it could mean that Marvel gets to make Spider-Man 4 along with possibly adding him in future films like Avengers 5 or Fantastic Four. With the reasons given Marvel could put their tentacles into things like Sony’s Spider-Woman and other spinoffs.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if this will be Tom Holland’s send-off or if Marvel will double-down on his incarnation of Spider-Man.
On the heels of the news that Spider-Man spinoff film Kraven The Hunter is indeed moving forward at Sony Pictures with Deadline reporting that Triple Frontier director J.C. Chandor is in talks with the studio, it looks like the script will have new writers as well.
Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Expendables 2) wrote the original draft of Kraven and it seems that the studio has brought in some seasoned comic book screenwriters with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway as mentioned in Deadline’s report.
The writing duo is behind the first Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone, Men In Black: International, and fellow Spider-Man spinoff Morbius. They most recently worked with Sony on the Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg video game adaptation Uncharted, currently filming in Germany.
Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven The Hunter is a Russian game hunter that crosses paths with multiple Marvel Comics heroes over the years but is primarily known as a Spider-Man villain, which has led to some speculation that Kraven could be showing up in Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man 3 and because of comments from director Ryan Coogler assumptions he may appear in Black Panther 2 as well.
Neither rumors have been confirmed in any substantial way but there is a shot that Sony will attempt to add Tom Holland to this new Kraven spinoff according to previous comments made by the film’s original screenwriter Richard Wenk.
Speaking with Discussing Film (via SlashFilm) in the fall of 2018, Kraven screenwriter Richard Wenk suggested that Spider-Man would be part of the film.
WENK: “I’m just starting it. It’s an interesting world. A great character. It’s going to adhere very closely to the lore of Kraven the Hunter. And he is going to come face to face with Spider-Man. I’m just beginning it, beginning the process, and because it’s a big IP, Marvel world, there’s lots of hurdles to overcome before you can start writing, to crack the right story and to get the right tone. It’s a new world for me. But what’s nice about it is it’s a very grounded character, he doesn’t have a lot of crazy superpowers and things like that so he’s more grounded and that fits what I like to do. That’s as much as I know.”
Hiring new writers could put into question if we will ultimately see Holland’s Peter Paker being part of the film as that version may have changed since subsequent rewrites from Marcum and Holloway.
However, there are clear signs that these Sony-made Marvel films already connect directly to the Marvel-made solo Spider-Man films suggesting a crossover with Holland’s Spidey is only a matter of time.
Morbius is confirmed to be directly tied to the MCU Spider-Man films after the trailer revealed that Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming is showing up in the film during some jailbreak sequence with Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius linking Homecoming to Morbius.
It also gave a direct nod to the final scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home when Parker’s identity is revealed and is framed for the murder of the villainous Quentin Beck aka Mysterio, as Morbius walks past a Spider-Man poster with “murderer” painted on it.
J.K. Simmons confirmed to SiriusXM that he filmed another J. Jonah Jameson cameo possibly for Morbius or Venom: Let There Be Carnage along with a plan to do another. Jameson could be another character that moves between the MCU and Sony-made films.
SIMMONS: “There is one more JJJ appearance in the can and from what I’m hearing there is a plan for yet another one. Hopefully, JJJ will continue now and forever.”
Kraven’s half-brother may have actually cameoed in Spider-Man: Far From Home, as Numar Acar played Nick Fury (Talos) associate Dimitri, who may or may not be a version of Dimitri Smerdyakov aka The Chameleon.
We’re yet to see Venom: Let There Be Carnage have any real significant crossover stuff as they have yet to release a trailer for the upcoming sequel, unless they’ve snuck a cameo from J.K. Simmon’s newly revived J. Jonah Jameson.
Kraven is yet another part of Sony’s greater plans for its splinter Marvel cinematic universe with the unfortunate corporate name Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, yes that is the official name they’re going with.
Here is a rundown of the other Marvel projects in the works and releasing from Sony Pictures.
The studio recently moved Morbius to a release date of March 19th, 2021, and placed the Venom sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage to June 24th, 2021.
Spider-Man 3 from director Jon Watts is supposed to begin shooting this winter with a December 17th, 2021 release date but there is a likelihood that production starts in early 2021. The combination of COVID-19, multiple filming locations, and the Uncharted shoot will likely be determining factors if they’ll be able to start or finish on schedule.
A potential Spider-Woman film will be directed by Olivia Wilde according to Deadline with a script from Wilde and Katie Silberman, a previous script was penned by Gary Spinelli (American Made, Chaos Walking). If the film is indeed Spider-Woman, it would focus on Jessica Drew and suggests the project could be handled by Marvel Studios in another co-production deal because Marvel has access to Drew as she didn’t originate in the pages of Spider-Man comics.
Madame Web will be directed by S.J. Clarkson but the report from Variety stressed that while a screenwriter hadn’t been chosen the studio was interested in casting Amy Adams and Charlize Theron, then building a script around that actress.
Jackpot is another female-led superhero project at Sony that will have a script from Marc Guggenheim (Green Lantern, Arrow), a director has yet to be announced though.
A Sinister Six film was being developed during The Amazing Spider-Man era with Drew Goddard (The Martian) attached to write and direct. It also crumbled to pieces when Sony decided to reboot the character for a second time scrapping the project in the process. Franchise producer Amy Pascal has voiced some interest in circling back to Goddard and Sinister Six at some point.
Black Cat and Silver Sable could end up getting solo movies after their team-up film Silver & Black saw it’s production halted and was split into two solo projects instead. There haven’t been many updates on the progress of either film. It’s possible that multiple character and plot leaks contributed to Sony ultimately putting the film in ice.
Nightwatch and Silk might also eventually get their own films, but again there haven’t been recent updates on their status at the studio.
Back in March, The Wrap reported that screenwriter Roberto Orci was attached to write an untitled Spider-Man spinoff for Sony, but the information hasn’t been supported by other outlets or what that project will be. There had also been rumors from The Iluminerdi that characters such as Man-Wolf and Solo could be getting their own films as well, this has yet to be supported by the trades. Either could end up being this potential untitled Orci project.
Marvel’s standing deal with Sony for Spider-Man allows them to make Spider-Man 3 keeping it within the MCU and they’ll have access to Spidey for another undisclosed Marvel Studios film. It’s a strong possibility that Disney and Sony could re-up the deal in the not too distant future.
We’ll have to wait and see what projects ultimately go in front of cameras and are released by the studio. It’s worth noting that a production timeline for Kraven The Hunter andOlivia Wilde’s film seemingly hasn’t been locked-down.
THE RONIN 