A new rumor claims that Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to Spider-Man and adjacent Marvel characters, is working on developing solo film projects based on the Spider-Man villains Doctor Octopus and Mysterio.
Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 (2004), Sony Pictures
This new rumor comes from Caiden Reed at The Streamr. Reed shared on X, “Happy New Year! According to my source, there are two solo projects in development for Doc Ock and Mysterio.”
Interestingly, he also added, “Jake Gyllenhaal is not set to reprise his role as Quentin Beck/Mysterio.”
Happy New Year! According to my source, there are two solo projects in development for Doc Ock and Mysterio.
Jake Gyllenhaal is not set to reprise his role as Quentin Beck/Mysterio. pic.twitter.com/oWZ7vswqjI
— Caiden Reed | Scooby-Claus (@caiden_reed) December 31, 2023
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Sony Pictures has made a number of films based on Spider-Man villains including Venom and Venom 2 with Tom Hardy playing the titular villain turned anti-hero. A third Venom film is currently in production with Hardy sharing a photo from the set to his Instagram back in November.
Tom Hardy Instagram
They also made Morbius with Jared Leto. Furthermore, Sony Pictures has Kraven the Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the lead role. The film is set to arrive on August 30th of this year. They previously had a film focused on Black Cat and Silver Sable in the works, but it was scrapped a number of years ago.
Aside from villains, they are also developing a film based on Spider-Man’s supporting cast. The upcoming Madame Web film will star the titular character alongside Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Mary Parker. Dakota Johsnon, Sydney Sweeney, and Isabala Merced play Madame Web, Carpenter, and Corazon.
Madame Web poster
While Sony developing films about villains is not unheard of, what is interesting about this rumor is that Mysterio played the central villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe release Spider-Man: Far From Home and he was played by Gyllenhaal.
With Gyllenhaal seemingly not reprising the role, it might mean that there is a rift forming between Sony and Marvel Studios and Sony might no longer see the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the proper place for Spider-Man, his rogue’s gallery, and his supporting cast.
Tom Holland as Peter Parker and Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Sony Pictures
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Sony hitched their ride to Marvel Studios by having actor Tom Holland play Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. They went on to produce three more standalone Spider-Man films albeit with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and John Favreau’s Happy Hogan making some cameos and taking on supporting roles.
The third film Spider-Man: No Way Home, which debuted in 2021 saw the return of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man characters as well as the return of Jamie Foxx’s Electro, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, and Alfred Molina’s Dr. Octopus.
The movie was the last real major success for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the film grossing a whopping $1.9 billion worldwide. It grossed $814.1 million domestically and over $1 billion internationally.
Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Sony Pictures
Since the film’s release box offices have been in decline. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness only grossed $952.2 million worldwide in May 2022. Thor: Love and Thunder declined to $760.9 million worldwide in July 2022. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever saw a slight bump from Thor, but a decline from Doctor Strange. It clocked in at $853.9 million worldwide.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania saw a sharp decline to $463.6 million. There was a significant recovery with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to $845.4 million, but The Marvels has posted the worst ever box office grosses with just a mere $200 million.
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s box office has declined since Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Spider-Man villain movies have not fared all that well by themselves.
Venom grossed $856 million in 2018. The sequel Venom: Let There be Carnage, which debuted as theaters were coming back from Covid in 2021 grossed $501.5 million. Morbius only grossed $162.7 million worldwide.
Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Sony Pictures
Spider-Man’s villains work better as villains and they should not be the protagonists of their own movies. The first Venom film was clearly an exception and the character of Venom in general is an exception given his ability in the comic books to play both villain and anti-hero.
If Sony is indeed crafting films based on these villains, they should scrap them entirely and work on creating Spider-Man films focusing on these villains. However, they might be better served to create films based on other villains given Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio just played villain to Spider-Man in Far From Home and Spider-Man 2 with Alfred Molina playing Doctor Octopus is one of the greatest superhero films ever made.
Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 (2004), Sony Pictures
What do you make of this rumor? Are you interested in a Mysterio or Doctor Octopus solo film?
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