Sony’s Bold Spider-Man Reboot: Lessons Learned or History Repeating?

Sony is hitting reset on its Spider-Man Universe — and the company’s CEO finally explains why Spider-Man: No Way Home never swung into Chinese theaters.

After a run of movies that ranged from decent to facepalm, Sony is getting ready to hit the big red reset button on its Spider-Man Universe. The exception, of course, is the Venom trilogy, which found a proper pulse thanks to Tom Hardy chewing scenery like it's a five-course meal. The rest? You know how that went.

A reboot is coming (straight from the top)

Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tom Rothman said on the 'On The Town with Matt Belloni' podcast that the Spider-Man Universe is not going away. He confirmed it will come back and, when pressed on whether it would be a clean slate with new people, he answered:

'Yes.'

How the lineup changes, who gets recast, what characters lead the charge — that part stays under wraps for now. But after a decade of awkward spinoffs that felt trapped in a time capsule, starting fresh sounds like the only sane move. And maybe this time, consider letting Spider-Man actually show up? Wild idea, I know.

Rothman on No Way Home and the missing $100 million

Rothman also circled back to Spider-Man: No Way Home, the crown jewel of Spidey box office runs. It earned over $1.9 billion globally, and he still sounds like a man who wanted a cleaner, rounder number.

'You say, $1.9 billion, what’s wrong with [saying] 2? Well, it didn’t get into China, but in my mind [the film’s box office is] over 2 [billion] because I know what we would have done in China.'

Why skip China? According to Rothman, the request on the table was a nonstarter — and kind of jaw-dropping considering where the climax takes place.

'They just said, Small thing, no problem, just cut out the Statue of Liberty — which is where the climax is... Also, I really didn’t look forward to sitting in front of Congress telling them why I cut the Statue of Liberty out at the request of the Chinese Communist Party.'

That is one of those notes you get, blink at twice, and slide back across the table.

Meanwhile: an animated Venom is brewing

Separate from the reboot talk, Sony is developing an animated Venom movie. Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein — the duo behind Final Destination: Bloodlines — are set to direct and produce. Tom Hardy is involved, though in what capacity is still fuzzy. He could be producing, he could be voicing Venom, maybe both. The studio is clearly not done dining out on symbiote chaos.

The big question is whether Sony learned the right lessons. Venom worked because it had a clear identity and a star fully committed to the bit. The others felt like they time-traveled in from the worst version of the early 2000s. If the reboot brings in new creative voices, lets the characters be weird in the right ways, and finds a plan that actually involves Spider-Man, there is a path forward. Your move, Sony.