Sony's Spider-Man Universe

Sony and Marvel Studios renegotiated their deal in 2019 to share the Spider-Man character between the MCU and their standalone Marvel-based films.

[6] Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch stated that Sony did not want to refer to their shared universe as the "Spider-Verse" since it encompassed many characters separate from Spider-Man.

[12] 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).

"[13] 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.

[23] 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.

Because of this, Sony was hoping 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-ratings, and even lower-than-usual budgets, depending on each project.

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.

[33] 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.

[1] 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.

[41] 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 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.

"[49] 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.

Hopkins elaborated that Sony planned to have several series set in the shared universe that could "pollinate between each other", and that they would be released by a yet-to-be-determined network partner.

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".

[57][3] 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.

[69] 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,[65][70][71] with Nicolas Cage reprising his role as the character from Into the Spider-Verse.

[72] 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.

[74] In May 2017, Sony announced that Tom Hardy would star as Eddie Brock / Venom in the film, to be directed by Ruben Fleischer.

[92] This was added because Sony and the producers of Venom were excited by the possibility of crossovers between the live-action and animated films after seeing the quality of Into the Spider-Verse.

[23] Eddie Brock continues to rebuild his career by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the host of the symbiote Carnage and escapes prison after a failed execution.

[98] Serkis said Venom: Let There Be Carnage was set in its own world, with its characters unaware of other heroes such as Spider-Man, though the film does have some references to the wider Marvel Universe.

[99] The mid-credits scene transports Brock and Venom to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) due to the spell cast by Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

[100][101] Following a "secret development process" at Sony, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote a script for a film based on Morbius, the Living Vampire.

[108] Cassandra "Cassie" Webb is forced to confront her past while trying to survive with three young women with powerful futures who are being hunted by a deadly adversary.

[83] After their work on Morbius, Sony hired Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless in September 2019 to write a script centered around Madame Web.

[141] Art Marcum and Matt Holloway had re-written the script by August 2020, and J. C. Chandor entered talks to direct;[142] he was confirmed in May 2021 when Aaron Taylor-Johnson was cast in the title role.

[162][64] Lord and Miller said there was potential for Nicolas Cage to portray the titular role in the series after he previously voiced the character in Into the Spider-Verse.

[162] In December, Steve Lightfoot was hired to serve as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Uziel,[163] and Cage was in talks for the title role by February 2024.

[69] The series was officially ordered and titled Noir in May 2024, when Cage's casting was confirmed and Harry Bradbeer joined to direct and executive produce the first two episodes.