Background In January 2010, Sony announced that the
Spider-Man film franchise would be
rebooted after director
Sam Raimi decided to no longer continue his version of the franchise. By March 2012, Sony was still interested in a spin-off film they had been developing centered on the character
Venom, looking to capitalize on the release of the first reboot film,
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). That June, producers
Avi Arad and
Matt Tolmach discussed
Venom and
The Amazing Spider-Man in reference to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how the different franchises set in that world crossed over with
The Avengers (2012). Tolmach stated, "Hopefully all these worlds will live together in peace someday." In December 2013, Sony revealed plans to use
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) to establish their own expanded universe based on the Marvel properties the studio had the film rights to, including Venom. Arad and Tolmach would produce the films as part of a franchise brain trust that also included
Alex Kurtzman,
Roberto Orci,
Jeff Pinkner,
Ed Solomon, and
Drew Goddard, and
The Amazing Spider-Man and
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director
Marc Webb. However, after
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed and with Sony "under tremendous pressure to perform", the direction of the new shared universe was rethought. Following the
November 2014 hacking of Sony's computers, emails between
Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman
Amy Pascal and president
Doug Belgrad were released, stating that Sony was planning to "rejuvenate" the
Spider-Man franchise by developing an animated comedy film with
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Sony executives were set to discuss the project further at a January 2015 summit regarding several
Spider-Man spin-off films. In February 2015, Sony,
Disney and Marvel Studios announced a new partnership that would see the latter produce the next Spider-Man film for Sony, and integrate the character into the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony still planned to produce the spin-off films without Marvel's involvement, but these were believed to have been "scrapped" by November, with Sony instead focusing on its new reboot with Marvel. Discussing the animated film during that year, Sony Pictures chairman
Tom Rothman said it would "co-exist" with the live-action Spider-Man films, though Sony stated it would "exist independently of the projects in the live-action Spider-Man universe." The animated film
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) is set in an alternate universe from the Marvel Spider-Man reboot, but introduces the comic-based concept of the "
Spider-Verse"
multiverse, in which different incarnations of Spider-Man can be brought together; Sony was excited by the possibility of
crossovers between the live-action and animated films after seeing the quality of
Into the Spider-Verse. In June 2022, Lord and Miller said that Sony intended for their Spider-Man Universe and the
Spider-Verse films to connect to the MCU via the
multiverse. In
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), the sequel to
Into the Spider-Verse, the character
the Spot visits
Mrs. Chen (played by
Peggy Lu, reprising her role from the
Venom films), during which Sony's Spider-Man Universe is referred to as "Earth-688".
Sony's shared universe Venom was revived by Sony in March 2016, envisioned as a standalone film unrelated to Sony and Marvel's new
Spider-Man films, which would launch its own franchise and shared universe. In May 2017, Sony confirmed that
Venom was not considered a spin-off of any other film, and would officially begin its own shared universe. Sony was looking to build out this new universe gradually rather than rush in as they had previously tried with the
Amazing Spider-Man spin-offs. In July, Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch explained that they were looking to "do what's the absolute best for each individual property. I just want to honor the original DNA." Because of this, Sony hoped that individual filmmakers would give each film its own distinct style rather than having a single person in charge of the universe, as with the MCU's
Kevin Feige. The studio also wanted to avoid "conventional comic-book movies", with the intention of dealing in different genres such as horror or comedy, potential R-rated films, and even lower-than-usual budgets, depending on each project. By March 2018, Sony's executive vice president, Palak Patel, was overseeing all of the universe's films. In July,
Vulture interviewed several creatives involved in the universe to try to alleviate the fears of some fans concerning Sony's plans.
Jonathan Goldstein—co-writer of the first MCU
Spider-Man film,
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)—said the future of the universe would be decided by the success of
Venom, and noted that other studios had struggled to replicate Marvel Studios' MCU success.
Brian Michael Bendis, comic creator of many Marvel characters that Sony planned to add to its universe, consulted on
Into the Spider-Verse and was aware of Sony's plans for its shared universe. He described them as "very cool. Fans wouldn't be annoyed with what they're doing." He added that MCU films such as
Iron Man (2008) and
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), which he was also involved in, were considered risks due to the lack of familiarity that general audiences had with those properties, but they both went on to be successful. He said this could also happen to lesser-known Spider-Man characters. In August, Sony was confirmed to have the rights to 900 Marvel Comics characters, and Panitch explained that "Spider-Man connects to a lot of the characters. There are villains, heroes, and antiheroes, and a lot are female characters, many of whom are
bona fide, fully dimensionalized, and utterly unique. We feel there's no reason the Marvel characters shouldn't be able to embrace diversity." When asked whether Venom would act as the "common thread" throughout the shared universe, Sony said this was not necessarily the case as they wanted
Venom to be standalone, but said
Venom would have "key points of intersection" with other films. Following the successful release of
Venom, Pascal said some of Sony's "previously shelved plans" could now come to fruition, including a crossover based on the villainous
Sinister Six team. In March 2019, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman
Tony Vinciquerra said the "next seven or eight years" of the shared universe had been planned. There was some hesitancy within Sony to establish interconnection between its films in the shared universe after previous attempts fell through, but the studio ultimately opted to de-emphasize the interconnected nature of its films by telling self-contained stories focused on
supporting characters related to Spider-Man. After the franchise's 2024 films
Madame Web and
Kraven the Hunter performed poorly at the box office, Sony was reported in December 2024 to no longer be developing further films for its franchise at that time, and was instead focusing on the MCU film
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), the animated
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027), and the SSU television series
Spider-Noir (2026). A subsequent
Variety report noted that Sony had privately acknowledged that
Kraven the Hunter,
Madame Web, and fellow SSU film
Morbius (2022) were creative and critical failures and that they needed to re-evaluate which Spider-Man characters were given their own film franchises.
Variety stated that while Sony had not technically established an official shared universe because it did not connect their narratives, the studio was not likely to stop making films for other characters, such as Venom, which were successful. In February 2026, Rothman confirmed that Sony planned to continue its franchise through a "fresh reboot" overseen by different individuals. At that time,
Sony Pictures Animation was developing an animated
Venom film to be directed by
Zach Lipovsky and
Adam B. Stein, with Hardy creatively involved.
Marvel Cinematic Universe connections Feige stated in June 2017 that because
Venom was solely a Sony project, Marvel Studios had no plans to have it crossover with the MCU. However, producer
Amy Pascal soon clarified that Sony intended to have their new Marvel-based films take place in "the same world" as
Spider-Man: Homecoming, describing them as "adjunct" to that world. She said that
Venom would have connections with the next planned film in Sony's shared universe,
Silver & Black, and that there was potential for
Tom Holland's
Spider-Man to crossover from the MCU films to the films in Sony's universe. Holland was not contracted to appear outside of a trilogy of
Spider-Man films and several other MCU films, but Sony intended to have the actor appear in their other Marvel films eventually. According to several reports, Holland spent several days during
Venom production filming a cameo appearance as Peter Parker / Spider-Man for the film, but Marvel Studios asked Sony to exclude the scene from the final film. By August 2018, Sony was actively planning to crossover Spider-Man with their own Marvel films, describing the character and Venom as "already in the same universe... we are looking forward to the two of them eventually facing off in the future". Sony was also open to more of their characters appearing in MCU films in exchange for more MCU characters appearing in their own films. In December,
Venom writer
Jeff Pinkner was asked if that film was set in the same universe as Holland's Spider-Man films, and he said, "without revealing anything that I'm not allowed to reveal, it is not impossible that in a future/upcoming Venom movie, Spider-Man will play a significant role". Pascal added, in reference to a crossover between the MCU
Spider-Man films, Sony's own shared universe films, and Sony's animated
Spider-Verse films, that "there's a world in which everything comes together", but Holland was restricted by his contract with Marvel Studios at that time. By August 2019, Marvel Studios and
the Walt Disney Company had spent several months discussing expanding their deal with Sony, with the latter seeking to include more films than originally agreed while keeping the same terms of the original agreement. Disney expressed concern with Feige's workload producing the non-Spider-Man MCU films already, and asked for a 25–50% stake in any future films Feige produces for Sony. Unable to agree, Sony announced that it would be moving forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel. They acknowledged that this could change in the future, thanked Feige for his work on
Homecoming and
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and stated that they appreciated "the path [Feige] has helped put us on, which we will continue".
The Hollywood Reporter added that the end of the studios' agreement "almost certainly" meant that Holland's Spider-Man would no longer appear in MCU films, but "significantly increased" the chances of the character crossing over with the rest of Sony's own Marvel films such as the
Venom franchise and the then-in-production
Morbius. In September, Vinciquerra stated that "for the moment the door is closed" on Spider-Man returning to the MCU, and confirmed that the character would be integrated with Sony's own shared universe moving forward, saying "he will play off the other characters" that the studio owns the rights to. In response to backlash from fans following the announcement, Vinciquerra added that "the Marvel people are terrific people, we have great respect for them, but on the other hand we have some pretty terrific people of our own. Kevin didn't do all the work... we're pretty capable of doing what we have to do here." Following a negative fan reaction at Disney's biennial
D23 Expo, and at the urging of Holland who personally spoke to Rothman and Disney CEO
Bob Iger, Disney returned to negotiations with Sony. Later that September, Sony and Disney announced a new agreement that would allow Marvel Studios and Feige to produce a third MCU Spider-Man film for Sony. Disney was reported to be co-financing 25% of the film in exchange for 25% of the film's profits while retaining the merchandising rights to the character. The agreement also allowed Holland's Spider-Man to appear in a future Marvel Studios film, while Feige stated that moving forward the MCU's Spider-Man would be able to "cross cinematic universes" and appear in Sony's own shared universe as well. This interaction was said to be a call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe". Sony described their previous films with Marvel Studios as a "great collaboration", and said "our mutual desire to continue was equal to that of the many fans". Panitch acknowledged in May 2021 that there had been confusion and frustration from fans regarding the relationship between the two universes, but said there was a plan to clarify this and he believed it was already "getting a little more clear for people [as to] where we're headed" at that time. He added that the release of
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which explores the multiverse, would reveal more of this plan. In
No Way Home,
Doctor Strange casts two spells: one that brings characters from other universes into the MCU, and one that sends them back to their own universes. The
mid-credits scene of
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) shows Venom being transported into the MCU from his universe by the first spell, and the mid-credits scene of
No Way Home shows Venom being transported back to his own universe by the second spell. A small part of the Venom symbiote is left in the MCU. Feige said there was significant coordination between the
Let There Be Carnage and
No Way Home teams to create the two scenes, with
No Way Home director
Jon Watts directing both scenes during production of that film. In the mid-credits scenes of
Morbius, taking place simultaneously with the events of
No Way Home,
Adrian Toomes / Vulture is revealed to have been transported to the SSU by the same spell, meeting with
Morbius in an effort to form a team. This scene was filmed during
reshoots to explain how Keaton's Toomes could be interacting with Morbius, a non-MCU character. Sony was forced to adjust these plans after the film—which was originally completed for an initial 2020 release before several multiverse-focused MCU projects like
No Way Home—was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic until after
No Way Home. In June 2022, Lord and Miller said that Sony intended for the SSU and the
Spider-Verse films to connect to the MCU via the multiverse. Holland ultimately did not appear in any SSU film by the end of 2024, which Adam B. Vary at
Variety reported had caused concerns about the quality control of Sony's films and whether the spin-off films were opportunistic yet cynical products. Vary further reported that while the deal between Sony and Disney for the Spider-Man film rights did not prevent the character from appearing in non-
Spider-Man titled films, there was some concern from Sony executives that audiences would not be receptive to Holland's Spider-Man appearing in a non-MCU film, particularly after some MCU films like
No Way Home further established creative possibilities and boundaries with the multiverse. In March 2025, Hardy said a crossover between his Venom and Holland's Spider-Man had been discussed beyond his appearance in
No Way Home, but this did not eventuate and was never in development as a film.
Expansion to television Vinciquerra stated in March 2019 that the universe would be expanding to television with a set of Marvel projects developed specifically by
Sony Pictures Television. At the time, the studio was "essentially internally auditioning" characters from the 900 it could access to decide which medium they would appear in, with Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins describing their progress in selecting characters for television as "pretty far down the road". Hopkins elaborated that Sony planned to have several series set in the shared universe that could "pollinate between each other", and that a yet-to-be-determined network partner would release them. An announcement of this partner was expected within the next few months, with the networks owned by Marvel's parent Disney—including their new streaming service
Disney+—being considered alongside others. These television plans were attributed to the success of
Venom and
Into the Spider-Verse, which "bolstered confidence that there's an appetite for Sony's slice of Marvel". After their work on
Into the Spider-Verse, Lord and Miller signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television in April 2019 to develop multiple television series for the studio, including their Marvel-based series, which could potentially include characters from
Into the Spider-Verse as well as live-action properties. Select projects would be produced in conjunction with Pascal. Discussing these series in August, Miller could not update where or when the series would be released but said there would be several live-action series and they would each be a unique experience with connections to the others. The next month, Vinciquerra said there were five or six individual series in development for the universe. By January 2020, one of these series was believed to be a version of
Silver & Black after development on that film was canceled in August 2018.
Gina Prince-Bythewood, who co-wrote and was going to direct the film version before it was canceled, confirmed in April 2020 that
Silver & Black was being re-developed for television. She suggested that it could be a limited series, and had the potential to be released on Disney+. That June, former
Marvel Television and Marvel Studios television executive
Karim Zreik was made head of television for Lord and Miller, putting him in charge of all their planned series, including the Marvel-based ones. The latter were described as a priority for Sony Pictures Television, and Zreik's experience with previous Marvel television series made him a "suitable partner" for planning them. By September 2020, Sony was in talks with
Amazon Prime Video for the latter to be the streaming distributor for Sony's "suite" of Marvel-based television series, similar to
Marvel Television's group of series that streamed on
Netflix. The negotiations with Amazon were said to be complex, with "major issues that need to be resolved" stemming from the complex distribution rights for the various characters. The series were expected to be released on a traditional television platform before moving to streaming. By then, the first series intended to be part of this deal was one focused on the character
Silk, who had been identified as a good candidate for a series after a film was in development. Amazon was confirmed at the end of April 2021 to have the rights to stream the upcoming series on Prime Video. In November 2022, the series were set to debut on the television network
MGM+ before streaming on Prime Video. The Silk series was titled
Silk: Spider Society when it was being re-developed, while a series centered on the character
Spider-Man Noir was revealed to be in development in February 2023 for Amazon. The
writers' rooms for
Silk: Spider Society and the Spider-Man Noir series were shut down when the
Writers Guild of America (WGA)
went on strike in May 2023. After the strike ended in late September,
Amazon Studios delayed re-opening the writers' room for
Spider Society so executives could re-evaluate the series and its already written scripts, and that series was placed on hold by late November. Because of this, staff writers were still contractually obligated to the series without pay but were unable to pursue other opportunities at that time. The WGA threatened to take legal action against Amazon Studios in response.
The Ankler reported that it was unclear whether the continued suspension of production was related to the strike or to other production issues. The following month, the writers' room was set to resume work in January 2024, which had the potential to change depending on the script evaluation. In February,
The Ankler further reported that, after work resumed for a few weeks, the series had paused the writers' room and let go of several of its members to pursue other opportunities, except for Kang and one of the series' co-executive producers. Amazon was no longer moving forward with
Silk: Spider Society by May 2024, when they instead chose to first proceed with greenlighting the Spider-Man Noir series, titled
Spider-Noir.
Nicolas Cage, who voiced Spider-Man Noir in
Into the Spider-Verse, stars as the character in the series, though he is named
Ben Reilly rather than Peter Parker, the identity of Spider-Man Noir in the comics, with the character also known as the Spider. Amazon returned the rights to
Spider Society to Sony so that the studio could shop it to other potential networks. Amazon remained committed to their Marvel series with Sony, while Kang retained her overall deal with Amazon and was set to continue working on other projects for their studio.
The Hollywood Reporter noted it was unclear if Sony could shop the series to Disney, which had previously released
several Marvel-based television series. Sony was not expected to renew its deal with Lord and Miller by August 2024 after the duo disagreed with the studio over the budget for
Spider-Noir. == Films ==