It is argued that DC comics has a better track record of solo projects focusing on the bad guys than Marvel. Joker gave Joaquin Phoenix his first ever Academy Award in 2019. Harley Quinn would get her own adult animated show in 2019, that has last 5 seasons and garnered praise each season. The Penguin in 2024 would not only add to the acting legacy of Colin Farrell but would turn Cristin Milioti and the character of Sofia Falcone into household names. The show would go on to win multiple Emmy awards. And most recently, James Gunn would stun the world by turning John Cena into a good actor with his role of Peacemaker. Peacemaker currently in its second season after appearing in The Suicide Squad, has become the connecting piece to overall DC universe and a cultural phenomenon. Nonetheless, Marvel and Sony Pictures did it first with a universe dedicated to the Spider-Man villains and the results were mixed at best.

In 2018, Sony Pictures had a hit on their hands with Venom. Based on the famous Spider-Man anti-hero, the film would star the popular Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Michelle Williams as the love interest. Venom would be a runaway success with grossing $856.1 million worldwide. The character of venom was redeemed after the disastrous appearance in Sam Rami’s Spider-Man 3. It would not be a hit with critics with a 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, but both Tom Hardy and the fans loved the character. The fan support and box office results led to the start of the shared universe.

This shared universe would be based all around Spider-Man villains. However it would be missing one key element…. Spider-Man. Spider-Man would be busy in Disney’s Marvel universe fighting Thanos, the Vulture and Mysterio. This decision was a head scratcher, how can there be a universe dedicated to these characters that depend on Spider-Man to work? The sequel to Venom would answer that question with mixed results.

In October of 2021, Venom Let There Be Carnage was unleashed. This sequel would make a smart move at the time, it was bringing in the second most popular symbiote in Marvel comics. Woody Harrelson would take on the role of Cletus Kasady or better known as Carnage. A serial killer that would get a taste of Venom and become an unhinged and darker symbiote than Venom. Another interesting thing about Venom: Let There Be Carnage was that it was being directed by motion capture legend Andy Serkis. This may have been its downfall in my opinion.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage would gross $506 million worldwide with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 58%. In 2021, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the seventh highest grossing film of the year. Not great but also not bad. Still, this would be a tease of what will happen to the future of this universe. In my opinion, Venom: Let There Be Carnage suffers from being too short, a computer generated mess and not enough of Woody Harrelson. Cletus is supposed to this terrifying villain but it seemed like the characterization was off.

This was the beginning of Sony and what the hell casting. The year after Venom: Let There Be Carnage came the masterpiece Morbius. Morbius was a movie that we waited to watch until we had COVID. Figured it couldn’t get much worst than that. Truthfully the best part of Morbius was seeing Matt Smith have fun in villainous role. Its really difficult to talk about Morbius and Madame Web that would follow in the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. These two films are among the very few superhero films that I can only watch once. Morbius stars Jared Leto as the researcher turned vampire superhero. This casting is a misfire. Leto may look like the character from the comic book but the stigma from his casting of The Joker in Suicide Squad and a weak script ruins his chances of creating something unforgettable.

Being forgettable is what makes Morbius fail. This is worse than being a bad superhero film, being a bad film makes people what to watch for fun. A good film, obviously will garner rewatches and overall praise from viewers. Morbius is just there. Like earlier mentioned, Matt Smith steals the film because it feels like he is in an entirely different film. Also while researching this article, I was reminded that Tyrese Gibson was in Morbius.

Almost two years after Morbius, Madame Web would be released to a 10% rotten tomatoes score, which was 5% lower than Morbius. Madame Web is unforgettable for all the wrong reason. Madame Web takes place in the 90s and the film feels like a terrible 90’s comic book film. Bad music, bad acting, bad CGI and a tease of the costumes for the characters. Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’ Connor team up as the female team of Spider-Man characters. Which could have been perfect, introduce the audience to some lesser known characters in the universe. Sadly, the film damages the characters and even the actors in the film.

Tahar Rahim who plays Ezekiel Sims, the villain of Madame Web feels wrong. The filmmaker dubs his voice over his performances and its distracting. Something that was noticeable in the universe was the villain or antagonist was always forgettable or never felt like a threat to the main character. The worst part of Madame Web was the tease, we get a few second appearance of Sydney, Isabela Merced and Celeste in comic accurate costumes. This film did not need to exist in the universe. With no pre-existing characters in the universe and a poor script, Madame Web was bound to fail.

Not liking the three previous films, I had very low expectation for the last two films and luckily they were the most fun I had with the universe since the first Venom. Venom: The Last Dance and Kraven The Hunter would release two months apart from each other with mixed and negative reaction. Venom: The Last Dance felt like a comic book, a 90 minute adventure of Eddie Brock and Venom trying to escape the government and a new alien invasion. Tom Hardy and director Kelly Marcel basically said “who cares about a story, have fun and lets just focus on the relationship between Eddie and Venom.”

Venom: The Last Dance was a surprise with how fun it was and the tease of Knull. Knull coming from Donny Cate’s Venom comic and has become one of the best villains recently created. The tease of Knull made me want to see where the franchise and universe would go from there. As Venom: The Last Dance was a successful film as it grossed $478.9 million, Kraven The Hunter may be the nail in the coffin for this universe.

Kraven The Hunter was bad but also has moments that I really liked. Unlike Morbius and Madame Web, Kraven The Hunter did a great job at casting the Kravinoff family. Aaron Taylor Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff could easily slide right into the Tom Holland led Spider-Man universe. He was a lot of fun as the character and overall had the look down. Russell Crowe as his father was another fun casting choice and Fred Hechinger as Dmitri.

The film fails where most of the universe fails, its antagonists. For the first time since Venom: Let There Be Carnage, sony used a well known character to face off against Kraven. The Rhino against Kraven sounds amazing on paper and it should have stayed in the comic books. The special effects and characterization of the Rhino turned a film that had some awesome moments into a mess. Easily one of the worst interpretations of a comic book villain in film in a long time. On top of The Rhino, the misuse of Ariana DeBose, who could have been great as Calypso… instead she just seemed bored in the role.

Despite the things I don’t like about the film, I was surprised by how much I liked the intense action and R rated feeling. It had me asking “what would an R rated Venom film be like?”. This whole universe hinged on the success of Venom and I think that was its ultimate downfall. Not every character in the Spider-Man universe can carry a film by themselves. Characters like Morbius and Kraven The hunter will work in films as a supporting character or the antagonist. Madame Web had too many characters to be a film, it would have worked as a mini-series to introduce all the characters. This would have given the viewer an opportunity to care about these characters and even give the actors more time with them.

Next year, a new addition to the universe with the first Television series in Spider-Noir. A live action spin-off starring Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir. A character that he voiced in the Spider-Verse films. I am hoping that this is the right move and a thing to come for the universe. Instead of making films based on the characters, give the fans more TV series. This will allow the characters to breath and have the opportunity to become household names. As mentioned earlier with what DC has done with The Penguin and Peacemaker, sometimes going the route of a TV series is beneficial for all involved and the fans.

You made this far in this article. Let us know your favorite Sony Spider-Man Universe film. If it is Madame Web, we will need to have you our Youtube channel to defend that film.