Since coming up with a new arrangement with Marvel to keep Spider-Man in the MCU, there has been speculation that Sony is setting up its own shared Marvel universe which could see characters like Venom and Spider-Man meet.
And Venom director Ruben Fleischer has revealed that’s exactly what’s coming, telling Fandom, “That’s where it’s all going to lead.”
“And that’s the exciting thing, because we changed the origin of Venom … in the comics, he evolved from Spider-Man but because of the Marvel-Sony thing we weren’t able to that. And so the thing I think it’s building towards, and will be exciting to see, is when they actually do confront each other,” he added.
When Marvel and Sony officially started working together and sharing Spider-Man, it meant that Sony’s own franchise filled with Spider-Man characters couldn’t involve the webslinger himself, despite the fact he’s responsible for them existing. Hence why, as Fleischer mentioned, Venom’s origin story had to be changed in the movie.
While the director didn’t get into specifics of how this will work, it likely has something to do with the new deal where Sony can include Tom Holland’s Spidey into their own Marvel universe.
The possibility of the multiverse and parallel realities means that Spider-Man could totally be thrown into another universe – which is what could happen in Marvel’s next film to explain why he doesn’t come back again?
Sony has a number of projects in development to start their own Marvel universe including the Jared Leto-led Morbius, Venom 2, Nightwatch, Black Cat, Silver Sable and Madame Web. There’s also the hugely successful animated Spider-Verse franchise.
Fleischer, who isn’t returning to direct Venom 2, was also asked if there was anything he’d like to change about the movie and he responded, “If anything, I would have changed the critics’ reaction to it.
“I was really bummed that people didn’t like it because it’s a crowd-pleasing movie and I’m not sure if there was just blowback against Sony or people just worship Marvel.
“But I was really surprised that the critics [were gunning for it] because audiences really enjoyed the movie. And so many people who’ve seen it just appreciated that it was a fun superhero movie. So I was a little surprised. I don’t know what they were expecting.”
Andy Serkis is taking over the reigns for the next film and reportedly has “very clear ideas” for it.
Fleischer also added, “I was kinda happy to let somebody else take over. And I’m excited to see what he does with it.”
The next Spider-Man movie is set for release on July 16, 2021.