After the lukewarm reception to The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it seemed Sony was planning to double down with the wall-crawler and solve his problems by adding more of them: namely, spin-offs. Ah yes, what a time it was to be a Spider-Man fan two years ago when rumors were flying around of a spy thriller starring a young Aunt May. Yes. This was a thing they had planned.
Not all the spin-offs were as ridiculous, with a Sinister Six movie in the works (teased in Amazing Spider-Man 2) and a Venom movie in gestation since the Tobey Maguire era. All of them were foolish plans capitalize on franchise Sony was clearly at a loss with.
And then they saw the light! They partnered with Marvel, and worked out a deal to have Spider-Man be a part of the MCU. The series was rebooted a third time, Spidey made an appearance in Captain America: Civil War, and will be getting his own film Homecoming next summer! After a very positive reception to Tom Holland's Peter Parker, things are looking up for the web slinger! Yes, folks, it's time again to talk about spin-offs!
The spin-off films have never really been off the table for Sony, but with what will likely be a huge hit on their hands with Spider-Man Homecoming, they're once again doubling down. Sony Entertainment Pictures' chair Tom Rothman had this to say to Collider in regards to the reboots: "We're working on a lot of stuff. There's a concerted effort, so I think there will be real news as opposed to speculated news before too long."
Hopefully whatever Sony has baking in the oven will be worked on with help from the allmighty himself, Kevin Feige, and the rest of Marvel Studios. It's anyone's guess as to what these movies are or how they'll fit themselves into the MCU. I imagine the Sinister Six project is off the table (poor Drew Goddard. The guy gave up Daredevil for that film), but I can still see a Venom movie being possible, and here's how.
Forget Eddie Brock, the original Venom. There's no room for that character in a teenage Spider-Man movie. Focus on the current iteration of the character; the one with Flash Thompson with the Symbiote. Currently, Venom is actually serving with the Guardians of the Galaxy. With the moniker Space Knight, he fights alongside Peter Quill and the gang. This is the version of the character you want. The Guardians film was tremendously popular, and I imagine will replace the Avengers films as the tentpoles of the MCU once Infinity War is all said and done. If Sony wants to do something new with the Venom character, and also tap into some of that Marvel magic.
Just for the love of God don't make an Aunt May spy thriller.
