Sony Pictures is seemingly getting serious about their Spider-Man spin-offs and there is chance there is actually a game plan for these movies to tie into each other. Possibly even some sort of crossover event movie as well.
Here’s a rundown of what Sony has announced [or has been reported] so far and how I think this could be moving towards something very cool.
The Venom movie is set to be released in early October with Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock aka Venom and possibly Woody Harrelson as Carnage [not really expected to show up until the end of the film]. The Life Foundation are the primary villains in the spin-off which could lead to a whole wave of symbiotes other than just Carnage, including visually interesting villain Scream [Michelle Williams or another actress?].
It was also announced that Jared Leto will be playing Morbius, a living vampire hero that became an important figure in Marvel’s horror corner of the their universe playing both villain and anti-hero. His inclusion could open the door for more Marvel horror characters to make their way to the screen.
Production on Silver and Black is being delayed until next year, which would focus on female characters Black Cat and Silver Sable.
Casting has yet to be announced but it’ll be interesting if Morbius has connections to that film’s leads. Felicia Hardy had some romantic ties to Michael Morbius in the cartoon and it’s very possible that relationship could be explored in future films.
Spike Lee is also attached to direct a Nightwatch film as well and I’m sure with the massive buzz on his upcoming film Blackkklansman they’ll want to lock that down soon. The hero like these others has ties to each other.
Interestingly enough, there are a couple of stories that tie most of these spin-off characters together. The big one being 1993’s Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage [also had a video game release in 1994] which has Carnage as the primary villain with a group of super-villains including Shriek and Demongoblin leading to Spider-Man calling up characters such as Venom, Morbius, Nightwatch, and Black Cat to help him.
Notice how all those supporting heroes from Maximum Carnage just happen to be getting solo films?
I have to assume that a Maximum Carnage event film could be how Sony plans on crossing over these characters and the build up for these solo installments. It could be the Spider-Man version of Captain America: Civil War but with a bunch of anti-heroes and villains.
Possibly in Venom 2, rather than a Spider-Man installment.
They could sprinkle in Scream’s team of Life Foundation symbiotes [they were featured in Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety a sequel to the Maximum Carnage video game] to boost up the numbers or replace the supporting villains if they aren’t exactly cinematically up to snuff.
Combining Maximum Carnage and Venom: Separation Anxiety comic stories into one film wouldn’t be a huge shocker, as they’re mixing together Lethal Protector [Omega Underground first pieced together due to our reporting] and Planet of The Symbiotes for Venom.
There’s a really good chance that this might be their plan for Venom 2, which Woody Harrelson [Carnage?] recently teased he was committed to. I could see Brock/Venom taking the Spider-Man role here and being the one that looks for more help. Also, this could explain why Carnage isn’t expected to be the main villain of the Venom movie as he’s being saved for something bigger.
Some fun trivia, Woody played fictional serial killer [Cletus Kasady is also a serial killer] Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers opposite a pre-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr.
Sony and Marvel could work together to add some wild cards to these spin-offs if they really want to give fans a kick.
Morbius originally appeared in a deleted ending from the first Blade film and played by director Stephen Norrington. Stephen and Goyer had planned to setup Morbius as the big bad for the sequel which was obviously scrapped for the Reaper plot when Guillermo del Toro took over the sequel.
Blade is currently under the Marvel Studios umbrella after the rights deal with New Line Cinema expired, and they haven’t exactly revealed any plans to use him anytime soon. Despite the studio putting together a script treatment for a new Blade film years back only to shelve it.
Blade and Morbius were members of the horror super-team Midnight Sons, they also had Doctor Strange part of the group as well. Strange could very well show up in future Spider-Man sequels.
It’s really hard to imagine a wave of Morbius films that didn’t include vampires like Hannibal King and Blade. I don’t think Marvel would flat-out give them the rights but they could always just loan Blade for a movie or two. Sony and Marvel seem to be playing nice lately, would a cameo really be out of the question?
The untapped horror side of Marvel Comics could be just as expansive as the cosmic side.
Cindy Moon aka Silk is also rumored to have a film in early development but I’m not entirely sure if she would fit into this, unless she’s going to be the Spider-Man surrogate which seems to be what Venom would likely be. She’s also a newer character.
What do you think, does Sony have a bigger game plan outside of releasing a handful of one-shot standalone films?