Kraven The Hunter Ended Its Box Office Run As Sony's Spider-Man Universe's Biggest Bomb And It Explains Why The Studio Was Right To Remove Its 2025 Marvel Movie Release Date
Kraven the Hunter broke a major negative record for Sony's Spider-Man Universe, and the film's performance seals the deal for the spinoff Marvel franchise that never really took off. The SSU started in 2018 with Venom. While Tom Hardy's Venom films have been successful, each subsequent entry in the franchise did less at the box office than its predecessor. Adding to that, the rest of the SSU's list of movies did not fare well at all at the box office, with Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter failing.
After Kraven the Hunter's release, it was reported that it would serve as the final movie in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The studio has other plans for its Spider-Man characters, who should continue to appear in upcoming Sony/Marvel films and series, like the animated Spider-Verse franchise, Nicolas Cage's Spider-Man Noir live-action series, Tom Holland's continued presence in the MCU as Peter Parker, and more. The final box office numbers for Kraven the Hunter make it clear that Sony is right to end its shared universe right now.
Kraven The Hunter’s Box Office Is The Worst Of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe
The SSU Film Did Not Connect With An Audience
Kraven the Hunter has finished its worldwide box office run with only $61.8 million (via Box Office Mojo). This led to the Aaron Taylor-Johnson SSU film breaking a couple of major negative records for the franchise. Not only is Kraven the Hunter now the lowest-grossing movie in SSU history, but it has also become the only entry in the franchise not to pass the $100 million mark at the box office. Madame Web and Morbius, the SSU's other two box office bombs, grossed $100.5 million and $167.4 million, respectively.
Sony Recently Removed A Marvel Release Date From 2025 & The End Of The Franchise Is For The Best
Sony's Spider-Man Franchise Was Lacking The Character That Could Have Helped It Succeed
The news about Kraven the Hunter's box office totals comes after Sony put the final nail in the coffin of the SSU. After it was reported that the studio was moving on from its Spider-Man spinoff franchise, Sony made that a reality by removing an untitled Marvel movie from its 2025 release schedule. The film would have been released in theaters on June 27, 2025. While the SSU ends with a whimper, Tom Holland's Spider-Man is thriving in the MCU. Two of his three Spider-Man movies passed $1 billion, with Spider-Man 4 and Avengers film appearances on the way.
The lack of Spider-Man, despite the character titling Sony's Marvel spinoff universe, partly led to the franchise's downfall. However, Sony appears to be going all in on the character from now on, and it is the best strategy for the studio to recover from box office bombs like Kraven the Hunter. With the Spider-Verse movies making fans invested in multiple multiverse versions of Spider-Man, Sony could keep Tom Holland's Peter Parker in the MCU and use characters like Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen in live-action, with Nicolas Cage's new Spider-Man Noir series pointing to that change of direction for the studio.
Kraven the Hunter
- Release Date
- December 13, 2024
- Runtime
- 127 Minutes
- Director
- J.C. Chandor
- Writers
- Art Marcum, Richard Wenk, Matt Holloway
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Comics, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Cast
Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven
Nikolai Kravinoff
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