Sony’s Spiderman (less) universe started in 2018 with Venom, and 6 years and 5 movies later we can hardly call it a success. This cinematic universe centered on superhero movies, ironically largely focused on supervillains and anti-heroes and none of them involved the webslinger himself. The universe itself felt directionless and often forced, with no sense of where it was headed. But the Venom movies were arguably the only saving grace for the SSU with its commercial success, and since the third and final installment is finally out, we thought it was a good time to rank all the entries so far. The two Spiderverse movies are not included in the list, and they’re anyway far far superior to any of the other live-action projects.
5. Madame Web (2024)
With an RT score of 11%, Madame Web will go down as one of the biggest comic book movie disasters in the history of Hollywood. Many critics and audience members gave it the tag of the “worst comic book movie of all time”. Introducing a new character is always risky and when you combine it with poor writing, acting, and marketing that makes it a recipe for disaster. Even the studio had given up on the movie after seeing no buzz about the movie whatsoever and stopped spending on promoting it. It is also guilty of wasting talented actors like Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Adam Scott who all deserved better. There were also reports of people refunding their tickets, how often does that happen?
Read our review- ‘Madame Web’ Review: A Marvelous Mess
4. Morbius (2022)
Before there was Madame Web, there was Morbius. They both delivered historical bombings but left a big impact on pop culture as they were the subject of countless memes which eventually led to Sony re-releasing the movie later that year. Morbius was better than Madame Web, but not by a huge margin. It was panned by critics and significantly damaged Jared Leto’s career and gave Sony their first commercial failure of the SSU. Matt Smith’s performance as the villain was largely appreciated to be fair but again Sony criminally underused him. But I think we can safely assume that we won’t see Morbius or Madame Web again in the SSU or the MCU for a long time.
3. Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
This is the third and final entry in the Venom franchise and the latest entry in the SSU. Sadly, it also turned out to be disappointing. Expectations were high as it was Tom Hardy’s last solo movie and most people can agree that he was always the main attraction of these movies. The movies themselves were never great, but Hardy owned the role, and the chemistry between Eddie and Venom has always been a highlight. Fans wanted an epic conclusion to the story, but instead, we got a middling product, probably the trilogy’s weakest. But hopefully, this is not the last time we see Venom, or Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock.
Read our review- ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Review: A Chaotic, Yet Entertaining Ending For the Lethal Protector
2. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
This was the second movie of the SSU and the sequel to the massively successful first movie with Hardy returning, Woody Harrelson as the iconic villain Carnage, and Andy Serkis directing. From the outset, everything looked like a great combination that should’ve made for a great movie. Sony made a big mistake by going for a PG-13 rating, which resulted in a significantly toned-down Carnage. But despite the backlash, mixed reviews, and a pandemic release, it managed to earn over half a billion dollars at the global box office which speaks to the popularity of the character.
1. Venom (2018)
This is where it all began for the SSU, and even though it wasn’t a perfect start, it was a great start. venom had been a popular character in the comics but making solo movies centered on Spiderman villains was not a trend in Hollywood back then. They made a great casting choice with Tom Hardy, but he wasn’t a movie star either, so the whole thing was a risk. But the mixed reviews didn’t stop the movie from becoming a massive box-office hit. It was a really entertaining movie and given the the level of damage the SSU has suffered since, I’m not sure if they’ll ever be able to surpass, or even replicate the success of the first Venom movie.
Final Thoughts-
Has the SSU given the fans what they wanted? Definitely not. Can it still be saved? Yes. Venom 3 has not been received too well and is on track to register the lowest domestic opening of the trilogy, but given the popularity of the character, it may do really well in international markets and might even earn more than its predecessor. If that happens it would be a huge win for Sony given the circumstances. The sixth entry in the universe, Kraven: The Hunter is also due this December and we’re finally getting an R-rated superhero movie from Sony. Things could quickly turn around for the SSU if Venom 3 and Kraven are both commercial hits. Plus we already know that another Spiderverse movie is on the way. So the ride may have been very rough so far for this universe, but with strong products, smart marketing, and a little bit of luck, Sony could still turn this around into a success. Time will tell.
