We’ve had a very tumultuous relationship with Sony’s cinematic Spiderverse and our coverage in the site. An interview last year with Sony producer Amy Pascal and MCU visionary Kevin Feige spawned, among other things like unforgettable Feige memes, the idea that the two worlds could indeed collide despite having complete autonomy from each other, prompting us to begin covering Sony news. Some of you readers were understandably confused by this editorial decision. But as the months swung by, we slowly saw how disconnected these worlds actually were in spite of last year’s Pascal interview, hence us not covering any Sony news, save for Spider-Man: Far From Home, in the past 4 months.
But like a text from an ex in the middle of the night, Variety has published a new report detailing Sony’s plans with their cinematic Spiderverse – dubbed internally in the studio as the Sony Universe of Marvel Comics – and the openness of the studio for crossovers in the MCU, making us rethink our feelings on covering their films. According to Variety:
Sony is open to having other characters from its Spider-Man films pop up in Marvel movies that are produced under the Disney aegis, and would presumably also like to see an Avenger or two cameo in its own movies.
That isn’t surprising considering the revenue potential a crossover with the MCU offers. But what’s surprising is Sony’s obstinate plan on keeping the Venom rating PG-13 to not preclude it from potential crossovers with Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man and the rest of the MCU, considering the immensely dark and violent tone the recent Venom trailer showcased. Plans to crossover may not be concrete but a decision to dilute Venom‘s content, one of the few and rare Marvel properties that would actually benefit from the R-rating just like Logan and Deadpool, makes it seem like enough talks have happened to leave the executives at Sony hopeful.
Any Spider-Man movie will carry a PG-13 rating because the wall-crawler is more family friendly, and if “Venom” is too dark and gory, it might preclude other film match-ups, not just with Peter Parker’s alter-ego, but also with other members of the extended Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
What do you guys think? Should we get back to covering Venom and other Sony news for the sake of that potential crossover down the line? Should we specifically just limit it to Sony news that pertain to the MCU like this one? Should we completely abstain from any coverage whatsoever? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Variety
