Credit: Marvel StudiosFew characters in cinema have enjoyed the staying power of Spider-Man. From Tobey Maguire’s iconic early-2000s portrayal under director Sam Raimi, to Andrew Garfield’s brief turn in The Amazing Spider-Man reboot series, and now Tom Holland anchoring the character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the friendly neighborhood web-slinger from Queens has been a reliable box-office draw for nearly a quarter of a century.
Holland’s next solo story will arrive with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, set for release on July 31 this year. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, it marks Holland’s fourth solo outing as the titular superhero and his seventh overall appearance as the character within the MCU. Discovered as part of the retail listing for the film’s official art book, the synopsis for Brand New Day (via Barnes & Noble) reads:
“Four years have gone by since we last caught up with our friendly neighborhood hero. Peter Parker is no more, but Spider-Man is at the top of his game, keeping New York City safe. Things are going well for our anonymous hero until an unusual trail of crimes pulls him into a web of mystery larger than he’s ever faced before.”
The film reunites Holland with Zendaya (MJ), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), with Sadie Sink in an undisclosed role and Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo reprising their roles as Frank Castle/The Punisher and Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk, respectively.
Brand New Day is positioned as an all-new chapter following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Holland is not expected to reprise his role in the upcoming crossover event film Avengers: Doomsday (2026), which features a sprawling cast of returning actors.
Related: Marvel Confirms Tom Holland’s Peter Parker No Longer Part of Disney MCU
The Rise — and Stall — of the Sony Spider-Man Universe
Parallel to the MCU’s Spider-Man films, Sony Pictures attempted to build its own Spider-Man Universe (SSU) using characters on the periphery of Peter Parker’s world. But what a tangled web it weaved.
That series began with Venom (2018), which centered on Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his symbiote. Combined with its follow-ups — Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Venom: The Last Dance (2024) — the Venom series grossed an impressive $1.84 billion globally, however, none of the films in the series were praised by audiences and critics.
Related: Sony’s Live-Action Spider-Man Universe Finally Reveals Its Peter Parker
Morbius (2022) was the first spinoff following 2018’s Venom and its 2021 sequel. While it grossed a reasonable $167.5 million against a budget of $75 — $83 million, the Jared Leto-starring film ultimately amounted to nothing more than a bad meme (“It’s Morbin’ Time”).
The Sony Spider-Man Universe continued with the dreadful Madame Web (2024), which starred Dakota Johnson in the title role and became the most-critically-panned film of 2024 while grossing only $100.5 million against its $100 million (gross) budget.
And then it concluded with the disastrous Kraven the Hunter (2024), the Aaron Taylor-Johnson spinoff that grossed an abysmal $62 million worldwide against $110-$130 million.
Those missteps left a shared universe that didn’t even feature Spider-Man on shaky ground.
New Venom Movie and Studio Reset
Despite Venom: The Last Dance being intended as the final live-action story featuring Eddie Brock (Hardy), Sony is continuing to explore the character in a new direction.
A fourth Venom film is now officially in development as a fully animated feature, with directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein — the team behind Final Destination: Bloodlines — attached. Whether Tom Hardy will reprise his role as Venom is unclear. Either way, it seems the film could mark the beginning of a new era for Sony’s shared cinematic universe.
A Spider-Man Film Series Reboot on the Horizon
Sony chairman and CEO Tom Rothman has now confirmed a reset of the SSU.
On The Town podcast (via The Hollywood Reporter), Rothman was asked, “Where are we in the Spider-Man franchise? Not the animated Spider-Verse. Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?”, to which he replied that the franchise is getting a “fresh reboot” with “new people”.
Exactly what the rebooted SSU will look like remains to be seen. As for Holland, he will remain the MCU’s Spider-Man, but who knows whether he will finally make an appearance in Sony’s adjacent spinoffs. Given his lack of involvement with the previous SSU films, it’s unlikely. The reboot series might even cast a new actor as Spider-Man, if he even appears.
With Brand New Day on the horizon and new Venom plans emerging, Sony’s next moves will be critical to whether its Spider-Man Universe can recover or remain a cautionary tale of oversaturation and underwhelming content.
Do you think Sony should reset the SSU or give up altogether? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!