Spider-Man never appeared in Sony spinoff movies for one very good reason
As the latest Sony Spider-Man Universe movie to receive critical backlash, Kraven the Hunter is another example of a Spider-Man spinoff to go without its most famous character.
Kraven the Hunterisn’t Sony’s only attempt at cashing in onSpider-Man‘s villain roster by a mile. Just earlier this year, Madame Web became one of theworst-reviewed moviesof 2024, both critically and by fans.
Prior to this, Morbius and theVenom movieswere also part of the mini franchise, with the former becoming another box office bomb and the latter having a mixed reception across its trilogy.
Kraven (released on December 13) is the latest in a long line ofSpider-Man movieswithout Spider-Man himself, but a recent report has revealed that this was an intentional choice on Sony’s part.
Spider-Man couldn’t be in Kraven the Hunter because of the MCU
After Spider-Man was first introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016’s Civil War, the character’s rights became even more complicated when Tom Holland’s Spidey got his own trilogy with Sony, with one film including appearances from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s previous iterations.
So, the question always remained: Why doesn’t Spider-Man appear in the Sony spinoff movies? According toa report by Variety, which includes insider sources, Sony always had the rights to use Spider-Man in Venom and Morbius but opted not to.
The reason behind this “fatal flaw” is reportedly a result of a prediction that audiences would not feel comfortable seeing Holland’s Spider-Man appear in non-MCU movies, especially after No Way Home, Loki, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness established firm boundaries within the cinematic universe.
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Such limitations made a huge impact on movies like Morbius, which needed reshoots to justify Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes (who appeared in the MCU’s Homecoming) sharing a scene with Jared Leto’s Morbius.
Much like the other spinoff movies, Spidey doesn’t appear in Kraven the Hunter. At the time of writing, Kraven (released on December 13), is sitting at 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and is estimated to make only $13-$15 million at the box office during its opening weekend.
To find out what we thought, check out ourKraven the Hunter review. You can also take a look at theKraven the Hunter ending explained, and find outwhen it will stream.
