You can stop holding your breath for a Madame Web 2.
Or a Kraven the Hunter 2…
Or a Morbius 2…
Yet the Spider-Man extended universe isn’t dead, either.
Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman confirms the studio is planning a “fresh reboot” to the Spider-Man extended universe after the franchise’s string of box office disappointments (aside from the trio of Venom films, which performed well).
Rothman was asked by Matt Belloni on The Town podcast, “Where are we in the Spider-Man franchise? Not the animated Spider-Verse. Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?”
“No,” replied Rothman.
“Are you going to go back to those at some point?”
“Yes,” Rothman confirmed.
“But it’ll be a fresh reboot?”
“Yes.”
“New people?”
“Yes, yes.”
The executive added that “scarcity has value … you got to make the audience miss you.”
Rothman also, for the first time, confirmed a 2021 report that Spider-Man: No Way Home was banned in China due to the film’s climax taking place at the Statue of Liberty.
The executive pointed out the film made $1.9 billion globally, which “pisses me off to have to say this.”
“You say, ‘$1.9 billion, what’s wrong with [saying] 2?’ Well, it didn’t get into China, but in my mind [the film’s box office is] over 2 [billion] because I know what we would have done in China.”
“[The China Film Administration] just said, ‘Small thing, no problem, just cut out the Statue of Liberty’ — which is where the climax is. That was their request.”
Needless to say, Rothman did not change the film — which might have been impossible given the sheer amount of screen time that takes place at the iconic New York landmark.
“Also, I really didn’t look forward to sitting in front of Congress telling them why I cut the Statue of Liberty out at the request of the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.
Sony reportedly courted China heavily for Spider-Man: No Way Home, even releasing a Chinese poster amid hopes it would be the first Marvel Phase 4 film to clear censorship approvals. The prior film, Far From Home, made $200 million in China.
Rothman was also asked about his relationship with Marvel boss Kevin Feige, and opined, “They’re two people about whom I would say this — and maybe more if I think about it — but never bet against Jim Cameron and never bet against Kevin Feige.”
The live-action Spider-Man universe movies were plagued by both poor reviews and weak box office. Launched with 2018’s hit Venom, which set a high-water mark for the franchise with $856 million globally, the efforts included 2022’s Morbius ($162 million globally), 2024’s Madame Web ($100 million globally) and 2024’s Kraven the Hunter (an abysmal $60 million globally against an estimated production budget of more than $100 million).
