‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein will make a ‘Venom’ animated movie.
Tom Hardy is aboard to produce.
The movie is at an early stage.
Having managed to get a movie trilogy out of slavering, ravenous Spider-Man character Venom, Sony is looking to keep the franchise alive in the animated realm.
The directors have become an in-demand duo since ‘Bloodlines’ helped to shock the horror movie series back to life with $315 million in box office receipts.
Venom, created by writer Bill Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, was famously introduced as a villain in 1988’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ No. 300, and quickly became a fan-favorite as well as one of his arch-nemeses. He got his first solo comic in 1993.
Sony produced three ‘Venom’ movies starring Tom Hardy as down-on-his-luck journalist Eddie Brock, who bonds with the symbiote. The eponymous first arrived in 2018, followed by sequels ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ in 2021 and 2024’s ‘Venom: The Last Dance.’
Hardy is aboard the new movie as a producer alongside live-action team Amy Pascal, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, alongside Kelly Marcel, who wrote on all three of the movies and directed ‘The Last Dance.’
There’s no word on a plot for the animated movie at this early stage –– Sony is in the process of opening a writers’ room to develop ideas, run by Lipovsky and Stein.
The pair are also at work with Chris Columbus on a new ‘Gremlins’ movie. They are also developing to direct the original thriller ‘Long Lost’, described as ‘What Lies Beneath’ meets ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and set up at Universal with Amblin Entertainment producing.
When will the new ‘Venom’ movie be on screens?
Given the development stage, Sony has yet to confirm a release date for the potential movie.
Venom in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
(Left) Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link in The Legend of Zelda’. Photo: Nintendo of America’s X account. (Right) Bo Bragason as Zelda in ‘The Legend of Zelda’. Photo: Nintendo of America’s X account.
Preview:
Bo Bragason and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will play Zelda and Link in ‘The Legend of Zelda’.
‘The Maze Runner’s Wes Ball will direct the movie.
The original Nintendo game landed in 1986 and has become a big sensation.
Since it was first announced as in development back in 2023, Sony and Nintendo’s live-action adaptation of the latter’s hugely popular video game series ‘The Legend of Zelda’ has been quiet.
Partly that’s because chosen director Wes Ball was a little busy making ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’, but things have now taken a big step forward with word that the movie’s team have found their main duo –– Bo Bragason will play Zelda, while Benjamin Evan Ainsworth has won the role of Link.
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The news came via a tweet from game co-creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who revealed image of the two young actors in costume.
The ‘Legend of Zelda’ game franchise, created by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, first debuted via Nintendo in 1986. The game follows the elf-like warrior Link and Princess Zelda as they fight to save the magical land of Hyrule from Ganon, an evil warlord-turned-demon king.
Across the decades, the franchise has sustained as one of Nintendo’s most iconic, selling over 150 million units with multiple installments across various gaming consoles, one of the most famous behind 1998’s ‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.’
It has also spawned animated TV adaptations. With so much source material to draw upon, there’s big prospects for a sequel. But fans will have to wait and see which elements or storylines from the game will make it into a movie.
While Derek Connolly, who worked on the ‘Jurassic World’ movie trilogy, wrote the first draft of the script, it has since been through the hands of T.S. Nowlin, who collaborated with Ball on several ‘Maze Runner’ movies.
Who else is working on the movie adaptation?
‘The Legend of Zelda.’ Photo: Nintendo.
The film will be produced by Miyamoto, who these days is Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo, and Avi Arad, Chairman of Arad Productions Inc, who has a number of big movies on his resume.
“This is Miyamoto. I have been working on the live-action film of ‘The Legend of Zelda’ for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega hit films. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.”
This isn’t the first time someone has looked to adapt the ‘Zelda’ games. There was chatter that Nintendo would work on a series for Netflix, but that has so far not come to pass.
Speculation on casting for the project has been rampant, with many fans taking to social media to name ‘Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer as their pick for the part of Zelda. Deadline’s sources have said that Mason Thames and Brady Hepner were two other finalists for the role of Link.
Where else have we seen Bo Bragason and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth?
Which is even more surprising, since the first two films in Sony’s trilogy were critical and commercial successes for the studio, grossing a combined $1.07 billion at the global box office.
Additionally, ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ won the Animated Feature Oscar in 2019, and its acclaimed sequel, ‘Across the Spider-Verse’, became the highest-grossing animated film for the studio to date.
Yet here we are in 2024 with no release date locked in for the third movie and plenty of chatter about delays, script re-writes and issues with ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse,’ produced as ever by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
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Though the second and third movies were supposedly being produced back to back, there have been changes afoot behind the scenes, with Sony just now announcing that Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson are directing the film.
Persichetti previously served as part of the Oscar-winning directorial team on ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ and was an executive producer on ‘Across the Spider-Verse.’ Thompson served as the production designer on ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ where he was instrumental in developing the franchise’s groundbreaking visual style. He went on to join the directorial team on the sequel alongside Joaquim Dos Santos and Kemp Powers.
Powers and Dons Santos have since moved on, but this has slightly the feel of the studio trying to get some good news about the ‘Spider’-sequel as concerns rise.
‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’: The Filmmakers Speak
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Here’s Persichetti and Thompson’s statement on the gig:
“We have had the immense privilege of being part of Miles’ journey from the very beginning and directing the conclusion to his story is beyond exciting. The creativity and care poured into every minute of this project has been truly inspiring. We have crafted what we feel is a very satisfying ending, and we can’t wait for fans to experience it – we’re bringing everything we’ve got!”
And this was the statement from Lord and Miller:
“Bob and Justin’s fingerprints are woven into the DNA of these films, and their passion for Miles’ journey shines through in every frame of his last adventure. There is nothing more rewarding than collaborating with creative partners with bold vision and brilliant execution like Bob and Justin. We are thrilled to work with them once again to create a beautiful and satisfying conclusion to this story.”
Finally, here’s Kristine Belson, President of Sony Pictures Animation:
“We’re very happy to officially announce the directorial duo behind the final chapter of the Spider-Verse saga. Bob, Justin, and the entire filmmaking team have been hard at work crafting something truly spectacular, and we’ve been blown away by what we’ve seen so far –– there’s more work ahead to bring Miles’ story to a satisfying close and we are confident that they are perfect pair to pull it off.”
What’s the story of ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’?
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ lands in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
The exact plot is still under wraps, though since ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ ended on a cliffhanger with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) arriving in universe where one of his alternates has become the villain known as the Prowler, and a rescue attempt launched by some of his friends, you know that story will need to be wrapped up somehow.
What else is happening with ‘Spider-Man’ movies?
Issa Rae as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,’ which opens in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
Amy Pascal and Avi Arad, who are the general overseers of Sony’s Marvel-affiliated Spider-Verse, talked to Variety about possibilities for other movies.
Among them? A live-action film focused on the Miles Morales character and a ‘Spider-Woman’ animated spin-off.
What did the Spider-team say about a Miles Morales movie?
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ SPIDER-MAN™: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Morales, who first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics in ‘Ultimate Fallout #4’ in 2011, has become a popular figure for fans who enjoy the more diverse characterization.
As the emotional core of the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, he’s also crossed over into a more mainstream movie audience.
“You’ll see all of it. It’s all happening,” Pascal said last year at the ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ premiere.
On the small screen, the ‘Spider-Noir’ series (which is drawn from a character who was used well in ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ and is likely to return for ‘Beyond’) is still moving forward at Prime Video with Nicolas Cage leading a cast that includes Jack Huston, Brendan Gleeson, Lamorne Morris and Li Jun Li. That show is filming now.
And, of course, there is the next Sony/Marvel ‘Spider-Man’ movie starring Tom Holland, which has ‘Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton directing. It’s due to film next year and is set for release in July 2026.
When will ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’ be in theaters?
As mentioned, Sony hasn’t confirmed a new release date for the latest ‘Spider-Verse’ installment.
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Are we finally done with of the Sony Universe of Spider-Man Movies Not Featuring Spider-Man for good? We can only hope, because 2024 has surely brought us the nadir of this cash-grabbing MCU-adjacent nonsense with ‘Madame Web’ and now ‘Kraven The Hunter.’ Yet another pointless origin story for a Spider-Man villain that really serves no purpose without Spider-Man to fight against, ‘Kraven The Hunter’ wastes a serviceable performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson (playing his second Marvel character in less than 10 years following his appearance as Quicksilver in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’) and smashes any hope of a real Kraven-Spidey face-off in the foreseeable future.
Like ‘Madame Web,’ ‘Morbius,’ and the ‘Venom’ movies, ‘Kraven The Hunter’ is dragged down by a laziness that infects every aspect of the production. A badly written script, lousy editing, miserable-looking CG, underwhelming acting, and even sloppy dialogue looping (yes, just like in ‘Madame Web’) hinder the film’s modest attributes, like Taylor-Johnson’s work and the occasional flash of electrifying violence. And it’s all directed by J.C. Chandor – who’s made some good movies, like ‘A Most Violent Year’ – with the energy of a weak wind blowing across a desolate Siberian plain (where much of the film takes place).
Story and Direction
‘Kraven the Hunter’ director J. C. Chandor.
‘Kraven The Hunter’ makes its points with such thudding heavy-handedness that the movie produces unintentional laughter almost from the start. Russian martial music blares over the opening scene to make sure we know we’re deep in the Russian countryside, as a transport brings the title character (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to a prison that would make Rikers Island look like the Four Seasons.
Kraven is there on purpose, however, to execute a Russian gangster operating within its walls, a plot point that will make more sense later as we first must endure an extended flashback from 16 years earlier. Here we meet the younger Kraven, real name Sergei Kravinoff (Levi Miller), who is pulled out of school along with his half-brother Dmitri by their brutish father Nikolai (Russell Crowe), who informs his sons that their mother has taken her own life because she was “weak.”
Dad decides that accompanying him on a hunt is just what the grieving boys need, although the rather timid Dmitri prefers singing and doing uncanny vocal impressions of Nikolai and others (he’s a “real chameleon,” as he and others tell us two or three times, just in case we don’t get the hint). Sergei is gravely injured by a legendary lion his dad has been tracking, and although he nearly succumbs to his wounds, a combination of the lion’s blood with a mystical potion given to him by a young African girl named Calypso — who just happens to be there with her parents — brings the young man back from the brink and imbues him with a range of special powers (enhanced strength and speed, better hearing, and eyes that change color).
Also bestowed somehow with a new moral code by that heady brew, Sergei decides he’s not going to join his father’s business and takes off for the Siberian wilderness, where he sets up house in a dome-like cabin left behind by his mother and protects the local animals from poachers. Now grown into the impressive shape of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kraven hunts bad guys as a sort of mercenary but is soon called back to help defend his estranged father, who’s being threatened by a man he once dismissed named Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), whose bizarre skin condition and own monstrous powers have led him to be called the Rhino.
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
“A man who kills a legend becomes a legend himself,” gravely intones Nikolai at one point, as ‘Kraven’ deploys all the usual cliches about fathers and sons and the definition of “real” masculinity. Perhaps J.C. Chandor envisions this all as some sort of operatic Russian crime epic, but he’s undercut every step of the way by a ludicrous, coincidence-filled script from Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway (the latter two are credited on the first ‘Iron Man’ for Marvel Studios). Kraven/Sergei steps out of his brother’s apartment for a nap just as a bunch of the Rhino’s thugs come to kidnap him; Kraven calls a now-grown Calypso (Ariana DeBose) to warn her that the Rhino is coming for her just as she happens to look outside her office and see those same thugs bursting in. Plot points are simply stacked atop each other without any real development just to clumsily get people from point A to point B.
Speaking of Calypso, who works as a lawyer, why does Kraven need her help in tracing bad guys if he’s supposedly the world’s greatest hunter? Why does her one notable fighting skill happen to come in handy just when Kraven needs it most? Does she even need to be in the story? And why the hell is the Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), an assassin who can hypnotize people by staring at them and counting to three, necessary here when the plot is already weighed down with multiple villains?
In the end, these questions don’t matter because the rest of the film is so haphazardly done. For starters, there’s a CG lion that looks like it was discarded on a zip drive by someone at Disney and found by somebody else working on ‘Kraven.’ In fact, all the animals look terribly fake, a common problem in CG that’s exacerbated here by the sheer amount of them. And let’s not get started on the final version of the Rhino, who looks like the VFX folks just digitally stuck a horn and some rough gray skin over the superstructure of Rhys Ifans’ Lizard and called it a day.
We can harp on the film’s other problems – shockingly sloppy dialogue looping (especially when Chameleon, I mean Dmitri, sings in different voices), shockingly dumb dialogue, and unshockingly predictable plot turns like Sergei getting his powers from magic blood, an idea that goes back to the Andrew Garfield era of Spider-Man. But all these other issues pale next to the movie’s main drawback: it’s just dull. Chandor can’t wring anything resembling real energy out of these tired old tropes, and the movie just grinds along for better than two hours like a broken-down train groaning into its final station.
The Cast
(L to R) Aaron Taylor Johnson and Russell Crowe in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
If there is a saving grace to ‘Kraven The Hunter,’ it’s the title character himself. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a very commendable job against the odds; even though this is a far cry from the Kraven of the comics in many ways, he does have a moral code, a sense of honor, and a thread of compassion that’s in conflict with his naturally violent tendencies. Taylor-Johnson is also quite physically suited for the role, even if the editing of the fight scenes leaves something to be desired (maybe he just said the hell with it and figured he’d use this for his James Bond audition tape). Kraven’s ultimate objectives are vague and kind of muddled, but that’s the script’s fault.
Fred Hechinger (seen this fall as the mad emperor Caracalla in ‘Gladiator II’ and the sadistic Harper in ‘Nickel Boys’) also does a decent job as Dmitri, although his eventual transformation into the Chameleon at the end is rushed and jarringly handled. One great shame about this movie is that it wastes three classic members of Spidey’s rogues gallery – Rhino, Chameleon (the very first villain Spider-Man ever faced!), and Kraven himself – on a movie that does these illustrious villains little justice.
The rest of the cast doesn’t fare very well. Alessandro Nivola ingests the scenery as the Rhino, camping it up and all but twirling his moustache, while Russell Crowe alternates between phoning it in and chewing the sets around him as well, his heavy Russian accent like something out of a Cold War movie. As for Ariana DeBose, there’s no nice way to say it: she’s just bad here, spouting every line in flatly declarative fashion as if she’s reading them for the first time. She seems lost at sea, but again, that may be a function of the script, which offers no real function for Calypso.
Final Thoughts
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
The sad part about ‘Kraven The Hunter’ is that Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s fur-clad killer might have made a formidable nemesis for the current Tom Holland iteration of Spider-Man (in fact, Kraven was allegedly the back-up plan for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ if the multiversal thing didn’t work out). But this laughable movie all but ensures that this version of Kraven won’t cross over into Spidey’s corner of the MCU, despite the handful of painfully obvious Easter eggs scattered throughout the film.
As we noted above, we can only hope that the seven-year excursion into mediocrity that was the Sony Spider-Man Universe Not Featuring Spider-Man, which began in 2018 with ‘Venom,’ ends here with Kraven’s first and last hunt. The whole idea – to create a universe of movies starring Spider-Man villains without having Spider-Man show up in them – was a misfire from the beginning, the brainchild of two producers (Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach) desperate to hang onto whatever piece of the Marvel pie they could. Nearly half a billion dollars in production costs and six films later, their slice of that pie is moldy and spoiled and needs to go into the trash.
‘Kraven The Hunter’ receives 2.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Kraven The Hunter’?
The son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) of a Russian crime lord (Russell Crowe) rejects his father’s empire and sets out to track down criminals on his own and enact justice upon them, using his enhanced powers to make himself a feared and powerful hunter of men.
Who is in the cast of ‘Kraven The Hunter’?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven
Ariana DeBose as Calypso Ezili
Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov / The Chameleon
Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino
Christopher Abbott as the Foreigner
Russell Crowe as Nikolai Kravinoff
‘Kraven the Hunter’ opens in theaters in October.
List of Movies and TV Shows in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe:
Robin Williams in 1980’s ‘Popeye.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Preview:
The Popeye character is in development for a new, live-action movie.
‘Sexy Beast’ TV scribe Michael Caleo is attached to write the script.
Chernin Entertainment and King Features are behind the new movie.
Since his debut in 1920s comic strips, the spinach-loving sailor man ‘Popeye’ has most famously been brought to screens by Robert Altman.
His 1980 offering, which starred Robin Williams as the cackling, corn-pipped character and Shelley Duvall as the sailor’s quirky love interest Olive Oyl, was panned upon release but has since gained cult status. It was also surprisingly profitable, released by Paramount Pictures at a $20 million budget before grossing roughly $60 million worldwide.
Now, after a difficult period as a potential CG ‘toon (see more on that below), someone thinks that the world is crying out for a new, live-action take.
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Who is involved with making the new ‘Popeye’ movie?
(L to R) Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall in 1980’s ‘Popeye.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
So far there is only one person attached to the movie –– writer Michael Caleo, who, given his history with gangsters (one of his big early gigs was on ‘The Sopranos’, he most recently created the TV series based on 2000 crime film ‘Sexy Beast’ and he wrote and directed comedy crime thriller ‘The Family’ in 2013), makes us wonder whether his vision for Popeye will be as a vigilante hunting down criminals.
Will regular villain Bluto turn out to be working for the mob? Will this new movie launch a world-wide boom for the spinach industry? We’ll have to wait and see.
(L to R) Shelley Duvall and Robin Williams in 1980’s ‘Popeye.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
In 2010, Sony announced development of a CG film built around the character via Sony Pictures Animation and produced by Avi Arad.
Here’s what Arad said at the time to Variety:
“Scot [Sassa, whose company owned the character back then] called me and said, ‘I have something for you.’ I literally started singing the famous ‘Popeye’ song after securing the rights. What always blew me away is the level of the animation. It was so beautiful and unbelievably detailed.”
Then, in 2012, ‘Samurai Jack’ creator and ‘Hotel Transylvania’ franchise regular director Genndy Tartakovsky unexpectedly signed on to direct the CG outing for the studio. Yet despite the emergence of some test footage, Tartakovsky and Sony parted ways in 2015.
Here’s Tartakovsky’s statement on why he left the film:
“I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don’t know if they want to make the ‘Popeye’ that I want to make. So they’ve got to make a decision. Right now, I’m off that project and moving on to the other one that we soft-announced, which is ‘Can You Imagine?’, an original idea of my own and a very personal story. It was hard to let ‘Popeye’ go, but that’s the business.”
Since then, development on the CG version has crawled to a halt and now the rights are owned by Peter Chernin’s company.
When will the new ‘Popeye’ movie land on screens?
None of the companies involved have revealed a timeline for the movie yet, so we wouldn’t expect this one much before 2026 at the earliest.
Nintendo and Sony have a ‘Legend of Zelda’ movie in the works.
‘The Maze Runner’s Wes Ball will direct the movie.
The original game landed in 1986 and has become a big sensation.
With ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ proving to be a smash hit in theaters ($1.36 billion and counting), and ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s also successfully mining the video game genre, it was only a matter of time before other game characters made the leap to movie screens.
And with Nintendo’s massive catalogue of potential source materials, other studios are following in Universal’s footsteps hoping to strike it rich.
This time, it’s Sony forging a partnership with the game company, splitting financial input with the game giant for a ‘The Legend of Zelda’ movie, based on the successful series. And unlike ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’, the ‘Zelda’ film will be live-action.
What’s the story of ‘The Legend of Zelda’?
‘The Legend of Zelda.’ Photo: Nintendo.
While Derek Connolly, who worked on the ‘Jurassic World’ movie trilogy, is aboard to write the script, there are no details about the storyline for the movie yet, or how it will draw from the games.
The game, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, and originally launched in 1986, follows the elf-like warrior Link, and magical Princess Zelda, as they fight to save the magical land of Hyrule from Ganon, an evil warlord turned demon king.
It has spawned multiple entries across different platforms and animated TV adaptations. With so much source material to draw upon, there’s big prospects for a sequel. But fans will have to wait and see which elements or storylines from the game will make it into a movie.
Wes Ball, who directed the ‘Maze Runner’ movies and has other experience with existing material, as he’s the filmmaker behind the latest ‘Planet of the Apes’ film.
The film will be produced by Miyamoto, who these days is Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo, and Avi Arad, Chairman of Arad Productions Inc, who has a number of big movies on his resume.
“This is Miyamoto. I have been working on the live-action film of ‘The Legend of Zelda’ for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega hit films. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.”
This isn’t the first time someone has looked to adapt the ‘Zelda’ games. There was chatter that Nintendo would work on a series for Netflix, but that has so far not come to pass.
When will ‘The Legend of Zelda’ be in theaters?
As of now, the film doesn’t yet have a release date. Which is hardly surprising, since it doesn’t have a cast in place, or a single foot of film shot.
Among them? A live-action film focused on the Miles Morales character (the focus of the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, there voiced by Shameik Moore), a ‘Spider-Woman’ animated spin-off and a fourth film (more directly in collaboration with the Marvel team) starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man to follow 2021’s wildly successful ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’.
What did the Spider-team say about a Miles Morales movie?
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Morales, who first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics in ‘Ultimate Fallout #4’ in 2011, has become a popular figure for fans who enjoy the more diverse characterization.
As the emotional core of the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, he’s also crossed over into a more mainstream movie audience, and the first entry won an Oscar for Best Animated Film.
“You’ll see all of it. It’s all happening,” Pascal said at the ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ premiere.
Nothing has been officially announced about any potential Miles Morales movie, but if the latest ‘Spider-Verse’ movie is as successful as the first, expect that to kick into high gear in terms of development.
Is a Spider-Woman movie likely?
(L to R) Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Much as with the Morales movie, there’s nothing official about a Spider-Woman film. The title could refer to Gwen Stacey (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), but the Jessica Drew character, who has also gone by the title, is introduced in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’.
According to Arad, a ‘Spider-Woman’ movie is coming sooner than you think.
“I cannot tell you yet, but it’s coming,” he said at the premiere.
Still, Steinfeld has told Variety that she’s up for much more Gwen time.
Here’s what she had to say,
“This is like my dream job, sign me up over and over again. I got to be comfortable! And it’s a dream to be in a space that feels so comfortable but also creative and free and just exciting to be a part of.”
What about the future of movies starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker?
Tom Holland as Spider-Man in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’
Sony is naturally looking to keep the Peter Parker Spidey train rolling, especially after the success of ‘No Way Home’. And according to Pascal, the studio is in the process of developing the fourth film, which would likely reunite Holland with co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon and once more see contributions from Kevin Feige’s Marvel team.
“Are we going to make another movie? Of course, we are. We’re in the process, but the writers’ strike, nobody is working during the strike. We’re all being supporters and whenever they get themselves together, we’ll get started.”
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’
Other Movies Similar to ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’:
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Marvel Entertainment, Lord Miller Productions, Pascal Pictures, and Avi Arad Productions. It is set to release in theaters on June 2nd, 2023.
Citing creative differences between himself, the studio and star Vin Diesel (but saying that he remains a producer on the movie), Lin stepped away, to be replaced by Louis Leterrier.
Which frees Lin’s time up to focus on another franchise, this one still at the embryonic stage. Sony has been looking to adapt manga and anime sensation ‘One Punch Man’ for a couple of years now, with ‘Spider-Man’ veteran producers Avi and Ari Arad attached to oversee it. And Lin has jumped aboard to direct and produce.
The massively popular ‘One Punch Man’ is a comedic action series about a superhero named Saitama who, as the title suggests, can defeat literally any enemy with a single punch. The only person not impressed with Saitama’s ability is Saitama himself; he’s completely bored with fighting and only gets excited when it seems like he finally has a challenge. The manga was designed as an absurd universe – Saitama’s foes include a humanoid crab named Crablante, who mutated after eating too much shellfish.
Created in 2009 by Japanese artist ONE as a webcomic, the story quickly went viral. In 2012, it was then published on Shueisha’s Tonari no Young Jump Next company with illustrations by Yusuke Murata along with ONE. The series became huge with worldwide sales totaling more than 30 million copies.
One-Punch Man photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
When the English edition published by VIZ Media debuted in the U.S. in 2015, the first and second volumes made the New York Times Manga Bestsellers list and was nominated for an Eisner and a Harvey Award. Since then, the popularity of ‘One Punch Man’ has led to a critically-acclaimed anime series, plus games across different platforms.
Their history includes the likes of ‘Fringe’ and ‘Lost’ on TV and other movies including ‘The Dark Tower’.
‘One Punch Man’ is still in development, and we don’t yet know who will be playing the main character. A big question will be getting the tone right – since the source material was designed as a spoof of big, portentous manga tales, finding the comedic balance here will be key. Still, Lin’s own past TV work on shows including ‘Community’ might help on that front.
And he has a solid track record even outside of the ‘Fast’ films. He’s handled big other projects such as ‘Star Trek Beyond’ and directed smaller movies including ‘Annapolis’ and ‘Better Luck Tomorrow’.
Sony, of course, would love for this to become a popular new movie series to add to its existing franchises including the ‘Spider-Man’ movies and ‘Uncharted’.
Venom, created by writer Bill Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, was famously introduced as a villain in 1988’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ No. 300, and quickly became a fan-favorite as well as one of his arch-nemeses. He got his first solo comic in 1993.
