(SPOT.ph) Sony Pictures’ Morbius is currently out in cinemas and introduces the wider audience to Morbius, the Living Vampire, a classic Spider-Man foe from Marvel Comics. The relatively standalone origin story hints at wider connections to Tom Hardy’s Venom and the rest of the Spider-Verse—and since it's in the headline, note that there will be major spoilers ahead. The movie explicitly presents Morbius encountering Michael Keaton’s Vulture from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a post-credits scene.
Movie audiences want to know what’s coming up for the Spider-Verse, especially after Spider-Man: No Way Home and the film's introduction of the live-action multiverse. Will Andrew Garfield have a third Spider-Man film? What’s Vulture doing in Morbius? We answer these below as we lay out Sony Pictures’ slate of Marvel movies.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)
Immediately, what to look forward to next is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) which drops on October 7. A sequel to the highly acclaimed animated film, Across the Spider-Verse reunites us with Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, as they venture through different universes and dimensions, while encountering more Spider-people such as Spider-Man 2099 (played by Oscar Isaac) and Spider-Woman (played by Issa Rae).
The film is not likely to crossover with the likes of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man or Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius, but given that the first film was what introduced the concept of the Spider-Verse to film audiences, this sequel will likely push the boundaries of what we think is possible within Spider-Man multiverse.
Kraven the Hunter
The next live-action film set within the same universe as Venom and Morbius will be Kraven the Hunter, dropping on January 13, 2023. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be portraying the titular character, who is one of Spider-Man’s most recognizable villains from the comics. Kraven is particulary infamous for hunting down the wall-crawler in the storyline "Kraven's Last Hunt" from 1987.
It will be interesting to see how the film plays out without Kraven hunting down Spider-Man. Place your bets on whether or not he will set out to hunt the alien Venom or Morbius the Living Vampire, eventually leading to them forming the Sinister Six together.
Madame Web
While no release date is set, our last film confirmed to be in production is Madame Web. Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) portrays the relatively obscure Marvel character, while Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) has also been cast. Not much else is known about the film, but given that in the comics, Madame Web’s psychic powers partly emanate from the Web of Life and Destiny—a multiversal construct that connects and gives power to all Spider-People across different universes—there’s a high probability that we'll see the events of the film affect all Spider-characters ranging from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Venom-verse, and the animated universes.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year
The animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year will have to keep fans tempered as they eagerly await Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man film. The Disney+ series will be a prequel to Captain America: Civil War, where Tom Holland first appeared as the MCU’s wall-crawler, and will pay homage to the classic Spider-Man comics as it explores Peter’s first year in high school and early days as the friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.
Possible Sinister Six Movie
Sony Pictures has been wanting to produce a team-up film of villains for nearly a decade now. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 teased a Sinister Six roster partially featuring Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Rhino, and Vulture as four of the six members, but after the Spider-Man series was rebooted into the MCU, Sony set their sights on the successful Venom series being the catalyst of their Sinister Six plans.
After the events of Morbius, the Sinister Six team shaping up within the Venom-verse appears to consist of Tom Hardy’s Venom, Jared Leto’s Morbius, and Michael Keaton’s Vulture. With Kraven the Hunter also confirmed to be set within the same universe, that leaves only two more villains to be introduced before a team-up film is likely to occur.
Fans theorize that a Spider-Man could exist within the Venom-verse, and that it could be Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man in particular. Recall that specific universe's generally darker tone, which managed to smoothly blend in lighter moments of slapstick comedy. Fans would also like to see Garfield’s Spider-Man fight Hardy’s Venom, due to the remark Garfield’s Peter made in Spider-Man: No Way Home that he was the only Spider-Man between the three who had not fought an alien.
Morbius is now showing in cinemas. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) comes out on October 7th, 2022, with Part Two expected to arrive in 2023. Kraven the Hunter drops in cinemas on January 13, 2023.