In recent months, Sony Pictures has been doing a lot of work with complex characters, like Venom and Morbius, who can be considered antiheroes because of their powerful urges to kill people. Some fans might even argue that these characters are villains, because of their actions in previous Marvel Comics. While this recipe seemed to work for Venom because of his complicated relationship with the beloved Spider-Man, a lot of fans are already speculating that Morbius is going to be a flop.
Trying to replicate the style and success of the Venom films in another character’s origin story isn’t an automatic key to success. Sony is going to have a hard time making the Morbius movie succeed, because they’re trying too hard to focus on villains and antiheroes in their Marvel-inspired universe. While this worked for a little while, Sony’s best bet would actually be to explore more of the heroes they’ve already introduced in previous films.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse performed exceptionally well for an animated film, and fans have been very intrigued by the possible return of characters like Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, or Peter B. Parker ever since the movie’s release. It would be an interesting twist to take some of these characters from Spider-Verse and give them their own live-action movies. Sony claims to have big plans for its version of the Marvel Universe, but it seems like Spider-Man is at the center of it all. After acquiring rights to characters that frequently popped up during the Spider-Man comics, they have a lot more room to try new things.
Miles Morales will definitely be seen again on screens since there is a second Spider-Man:Into the Spider-Verse already in development. As of right now, though, Miles is the only person of color to star in a Marvel-inspired Sony production. If Sony wants to continue to be a success, the company needs to start diversifying its heroes and think about what other new characters they could introduce to the fold. With the MCU creating shows like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, or promising more LGBTQ characters in future films, Sony will be disconnected and disregarded if they don’t start making some major changes. Sony will stay in the MCU’s shadow if they don't start switching up their formula, because their projects are not currently giving accurate or diverse representation to a large part of their fan base.
With that being said, focusing more on the Spider-Verse heroes would definitely prove to be worthwhile. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse did pretty well in terms of diversity, including both people of color and powerful women within its character lineup. Sony has yet to create a project that is led by a woman, despite the MCU and DCEU stepping up and creating female-centered films like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. Using the already popular Spider-Gwen and giving her a chance to star in her own live-action solo movie could appeal to a wider audience and help make Sony a major competitor with the other popular franchises.
Having the original cast of the Spider-Verse voice actors portray their characters in live-action films could help to solve Sony’s diversity problem, while still opening the door to a multitude of possibilities. The Spider-Verse voice acting cast is made of a diverse bunch of people, which could help to give underrepresented groups more well-deserved screen time. Additionally, Marvel has been capitalizing on the importance of the multiverse lately, and there are even rumors that Sony’s Spider-Man-inspired universe will somehow connect to Tom Holland’s journey as Peter Parker in the MCU. Even if fans never get to see Tom Holland in a Sony Pictures film, using the other Super-Spiders introduced in the Spider-Verse films could be a perfect substitution for his absence.
Placing the emphasis on heroes, rather than villains or antiheroes, would also allow for characters like Morbius to take a backseat role. Fans already have their doubts about Morbius being the star of his own movie, so if the film doesn’t perform as well as Sony is hoping it does, using him as an antagonist, or a hero with a small part, could prove to be Sony's best option for the character moving forward. Some characters simply work better as sidekicks, rather than the main attraction, so placing more emphasis on characters like Miles Morales or Spider-Gwen would allow for Morbius to come back in future films, without overusing his presence in the franchise.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also had a similar feel to Venom, in terms of comedy and over-the-top, borderline ridiculous, characters, like Spider-Ham or Spider-Noir. Seeing more of these characters in a live-action film alongside Venom could be quite amusing to fans, so long as Sony continues to poke fun at its campy characters and avoid taking itself too seriously. It would also help Sony start connecting its films together like the MCU does with pretty much all of its projects. Spider-Man himself, alongside other Super-Spider heroes, has always been wildly popular amongst fans. If Sony picks the right characters to focus on in future films, their Spider-Verse will undoubtedly take off.