After failing to launch a Spider-Man cinematic universe out of The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Sony loaned the web-slinger out to Marvel Studios while it tried to launch another Spider-Man cinematic universe, this time without its titular hero.
Perhaps surprisingly given Sony’s track record, things actually got off to a pretty great start in 2018 with the Tom Hardy-led Venom proving a hit with fans and audiences to the tune of $856 million in box office receipts and paving the way for the Jared Leto-headlined Morbius and sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage (both of which we’re still waiting on, courtesy of coronavirus).
Where Sony did slip up however was its name for this shared universe of Spidey-related characters, opting for the rather clunky Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or SPUMC for short. However, it seems the studio has now had a rethink, as Collider is reporting that the SPUMC has been rebranded, and is now officially going by the moniker ‘Sony’s Spider-Man Universe’.
SEE ALSO: Watch the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home
What this name change seemingly indicates – if Kevin Feige’s previous comments about Spider-Man being the only hero with the ability to cross cinematic universes wasn’t enough – is that it’s only a matter of time before the wall-crawler does indeed join the universe that bears his name. The current deal with Disney and Sony only runs for one more MCU appearance after Spider-Man: No Way Home (which isn’t a Spider-Man solo movie), and while it’s always possible to extend beyond that, it’s clearly only a matter of time before Tom Holland’s Spidey also swings his way into the… SSMU? SMU?
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: No Way Home sees Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home) directing Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Zendaya (MJ), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), Tony Revolori (Flash Thompson), Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus).
Spider-Man: No Way Home is slated for release on December 17th 2021.
