Image via Sony
Welp, so much for optimism. When news broke of Sony and Marvel Studios/Disney’s tenuous agreement to co-parent Spider-Man ending in irreconcilable differences, there was a sliver of hope that one of the parties leaked the story so that the outrage would inevitably force negotiations to resume towards a solution that would satiate the fans. Err, not so fast, says Sony chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra. If this is a long con, then they’re playing the long game because right now, no one’s budging. And that means we’re going to have to start facing the prospect of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man no longer having the MCU web to fall back on as a reality. It sucks but dwelling won’t get us anywhere—if that’s your wave, go sign a petition.
Instead, if the next two or more Spider-Man movies are set to be Sony-only, let’s explore the positives of what that could mean and the potential stories and arcs it could yield. Then we’ll ugh, go rewatch Civil War and Far From Home a couple times and cry together.
The Sinister Six
No matter what happens going forward, ostensibly everything that came before will still be canon in Sony’s Spider-Man 3. That means in Tom Holland’s universe, Scorpion is out there, in jail with an ornery Vulture, who employed a poor man’s Shocker. Mysterio was in the cut, and his death could easily be worked around (we’ve seen superhero movies pull more egregious stretches than a master of illusions beating death). That’s the beginnings of a pretty solid iteration of the Sinister Six, the rogues gallery boy band that Sony has been obsessed with for years now. Back when the company was totally lost, there was talk of a Sinister Six standalone movie, the concept of which still makes my head hurt. But a Spider-Man movie pitting Tom Holland against some of his greatest enemies unionizing to take him down? Here for it. Especially if they already smell blood in the water with the way J. Jonah Jameson left things. (Also, please bring J.K. back, thanks.)
Venom
Venom was an absolute farce, albeit an enjoyable one, anchored by a totally committed Tom Hardy. With the great Andy Serkis—a guy who knows a thing or three about rendering great, human performances out of CGI monsters—at the helm for Venom 2, there’s nowhere to go but up. And if Venom gets to a good place, then a Tom vs. Tom face-off could be pretty cool. Of course...that means Tom Holland’s Peter squaring off with a Venom whose origins have absolutely nothing to do with Spider-Man as it stands. Which feels...wrong. Not to mention, with Hardy’s Venom positioned as a head-chomping antihero of sorts, it kind of defangs one of Spidey’s most classic antagonists—even if they bump heads when they first meet, it’s likely in this current iteration they’ll end up teaming up to take on a Carnage-type. Hard to find an especially bright silver-lining here.
Wilson Fisk
The last time we saw Fisk (aka the Kingpin) on-screen was an animated version in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. While he’s also big in Daredevil’s rogues gallery, the Kingpin also has a firm place in Spider-Man’s history as well. There’s also the perfect story to appropriate: for those who remember Marvel’s Civil War crossover event, you’ll remember that when Spider-Man revealed his secret identity, the Kingpin immediately put a hit out on Parker and his family, which ended up with Aunt May being shot and going into a coma. Spider-Man even donned a black outfit to pursue the shooter—maybe this could be a great way for Peter to revisit his “Night Monkey” fit.
Sure, the “Civil War” aspect is out because that’s more of a MCU thing, but Far From Home left us with Peter’s identity being revealed to the world. Sony could simply have Fisk gunning for Peter in the aftermath of this revelation; maybe Spider-Man continues to cut into Kingpin’s criminal activity, and this is the best way he feels he can handle it. Whatever the case may be, this could be the easiest way to introduce one of the biggest foes in Spider-Man’s world to the masses.
Miles Morales
In Homecoming, we got the Miles Morales tease via Donald Glover’s brief scenes. Back in 2017, we said it could be crucial to the future of the franchise, and maybe now’s the time to pull the trigger on properly bringing Miles Morales—who also gets bit by a radioactive spider to gain superpowers like Spider-Man—into the mix. This could excite a number of fans, as it’s a) bound to mean we’d get more Donald Glover in the Spider-Verse while b) giving comic fans a live-action version of a character that means so much to many comic book fans out there.
The story could be anything—does Miles emulate Peter’s Spider-Man ways, forcing Peter to track down this “impostor"? Could Miles track Peter down for a team-up? It could literally be anything; at some point, Peter will need allies, and it’d be dope if one who is on a similar vibe as him being in his corner.
Silk
Another new character in the comics is Silk, aka Cindy Moon—another person who has similar powers to Spider-Man. In the comics, she was kept in captivity for most of her childhood, and when she’s finally free and in the world, she strikes up a competitive (lowkey romantic) relationship with Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Sony more than likely won’t go down that route, but it’d be intriguing to, say, have Cindy Moon be a classmate of Peter’s during high school (or college) and not only be competing with Spider-Man as Silk (who has a bit more of an edge and is wicked powerful), but IRL against MJ as Peter’s love interest. There’s a lot that can be done in more fun, playful ways as well as in dangerously action-packed ways. Word is a Silk film has been in development, but who’s to say when she would be showing up in Sony’s Marvel Universe.