Although fans of everybody’s favorite wallcrawler are no doubt counting down to the release Spider-Man: Homecoming, many are left to wonder what’s the status of the long talked about spinoff films. It’s no secret that Peter Parker boasts a gallery of villains and supporting characters that can rival those possessed by even Batman and the X-Men, so it begs the question: What is Sony waiting for?
Many of you no doubt remember that plans were in place for a Sinister Six spinoff to emerge from Marc Webb’s series of films, but those were pretty much shelved once Sony and Disney/Marvel Studios came to a landmark deal that allowed them to share Spidey, effectively integrating him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thereby enabling appearances in flicks such as Captain America: Civil War.
With Spider-Man: Homecoming set to firmly cement a new onscreen status quo with Spidey as a potential Avenger, Sony is still keen to get a larger slice of that lucrative superhero pie. I mean, who wouldn’t? Despite it being said in early 2015 that Sinister Six, Venom, and a female-led team-up movie were still being pursued, common sense now tells us to file two of the three under “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
[wgtc_youtube video_id=”jDSMAdFnx5o”]Earlier this year, however, we heard that Venom was reportedly back on track, but there’s been zilch on that front ever since. Not only that, but it was said that the film would not connect to the MCU, causing whichever of Spidey’s supporting characters fortunate enough to get spinoffs to exist in separate universes. It could work if properly executed, but the very notion is already causing unease among the devoted.
Collider recently caught up with Tom Rothman, Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, at the premiere of Inferno and asked him what’s the latest regarding the spinoffs – here’s what he had to say:
“We’re working on lots of that stuff and there’s a concerted effort now. I think there will be real news opposed to speculative news before too long.”
While I wouldn’t advise you to start holding your breath, that does provide some encouragement. We all know that Venom deserves some silver screen redemption after the whole Spider-Man 3 affair, so let’s keep our fingers crossed hoping the right set of filmmakers are hired and we get some official word in the very near future.
In the meantime, you can get your Spidey fix when Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into theaters on July 7, 2017.