Rumor: Sony eyeing Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio for Spider-Man spinoffs

Sony has indicated that in addition to the Venom and Silver Sable/Black Cat films, the studio also has plans for a couple of Spider-Man villains.

Sometimes I think the deal Sony and Marvel worked out so that Spider-Man could join the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to give fanboy’s everywhere headaches and nose bleeds.

At first, the deal seemed fairly straightforward. Sony would continue to hold the rights to the web-slinger on the big screen, but Marvel Studios would actually make the movies and would regain some measure of control over the character. Most importantly, it would enable Peter Parker to join the rest of the Marvel Universe and, in effect, come home.

Many, myself included, assumed that meant that Sony’s plans for a shared Spider-Man film universe were shelved, seeing as he was now part of the MCU.

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Turns out, not so much.

Shortly afterward, Sony announced that the long in development Venom movie was going into production with Tom Hardy cast as Eddie Brock with the film set to hit theaters in October, 2018. Shortly thereafter, Sony revealed a Silver Sable and Black Cat spinoff titled Silver and Black was also being planned.

How Tom Holland and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming will factor into all of this has yet to be revealed, but at this point it’s really anyone’s guess. But it sure seems like Sony is going to try to create a shared Spider-Man universe, just without our favorite web-head being a major part of it.

And now rumors are circulating that Sony has the subjects of the next two films in their sights.

In a recent article about Sony chief Tom Rothman on The Hollywood Reporter, the site claims a “studio source” tells them that both Kraven the Hunter and Mysterio are being eyed for the next two planned spinoff films.

They also say that the planned Sinister Six film, which originally was supposed to help launch a Spider-Man film universe after the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, has been cancelled. Instead Sony is creating their new Spidey Cinematic Universe more organically, one character at a time.

If you are going to use two of Spider-Man rogue’s gallery in stand alone films, these could be two of the best choices. Kraven has been seen as more of an anti-hero over the last few years than a straight up super-villain. In contrast, Mysterio could provide lots of opportunities for the right director to create a very trippy, different looking superhero movie.

In addition, it is also revealed that Sony would love to get Holland to appear in one of more of their movies, but he is only under contract for two more Spider-Man films and that’s it. Also, Spider-Man 2 will feature another prominent hero from the MCU, much the same way Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man appears in Homecoming.

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Will Sony’s plans work? Honestly, I doubt it. A Spider-Man Cinematic Universe without Spider-Man is going to be tough sell, especially after the disaster that was the two Amazing Spider-Man movies.

That said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really looking forward to that Silver and Black movie.

Spider-Man: Homecoming arrives in theaters on July 7.