Venom's Success May Be Keeping Spider-Man's Rights from Reverting Back to Marvel Studios

Earlier projections for Venom were terrible, but the film has admittedly overperformed in the box office and has given Sony the confidence to move forward with their SUMC. As it turns out, the success of the movie is going to be one of the reasons why it's so hard for Marvel to get back the rights to Spider-Man.

Box office analyst Jeff Bock tells Business Insider that Venom's success may lead to Sony keeping a tighter grip on their Spider-Man IP. He says:

"If [Venom] had failed, there is a chance Sony would have definitely returned to the bargaining table with Disney. Now, that's up in the air…"

… [Sony] took a calculated risk with 'Venom,' and it's now going to be a series. It seems Disney needs Sony's 'Spider-Man' more than Sony needs Disney ... If they consistently make films audiences want to see, Disney will have to buy Sony to get 'Spider-Man' back."

Before Venom even came out, a lot of fans (myself included) was hoping that the movie would fail to see that Sony is thinking of pushing forward with more solo movies centered on supporting Spider-Man characters. The success of the movie has now officially opened the door for films like Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, Silk, and Jackpot.

If anything, maybe the success of Venom can be considered as a fluke. Venom no doubt on his own is an already popular character, but the same couldn't be said for other characters like Kraven, Morbius, Black Cat, or Silver Sable. Maybe the first movie's success isn't also a guarantee that the sequel will fare better as well.

Hasn't Sony learned from Amazing Spider-Man 2?

If anything, the only movie that can save Sony's Spidey IP is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The movie looks absolutely amazing, and it actually has Spider-Man (in fact, several Spider-Men) at the center of the film.

For now, we'll just have to wait and see where the SUMC franchise goes. Hopefully, Sony is still willing to share with Marvel Studios in the future.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse comes out Dec. 14.

See Also: Sony has Decided to Split the Black & Silver Movie in Two—Silk and Jackpot