When it comes to crafting superhero movies, no studio seems to have a more mixed reaction than Sony Pictures. The first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man films are often regarded as two of the best in the genre, and both the animated entries, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, dazzled critics and audiences have gone on to become Academy Award-nominated films. Yet the studio’s reputation for studio interference in films like Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man eroded trust in the brand so much that they had to team up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home to generate fan excitement.
Meanwhile, they have attempted to launch their own shared universe of interconnected films based around Spider-Man characters, notably without Spider-Man. The first was Venom, which actually went on to become a surprise hit and gave Sony the confidence to move forward with what they call the Sony Spider-Man Cinematic Universe (SSCU). While Venom: Let There Be Carnage was a box office hit, the follow-up films have been disappointing. Nobody thought they could do worse than 2022’s Morbius…that was until 2024’s Madame Web
came out.
The film looked to be a vital part of SSCU, as the film looked to bring in a group of Spider-themed heroes (various versions of Spider-Woman) to fill the void left by the lack of Spider-Man in a franchise filled with Spider-Man villains like Morbius, Venom, Carnage, Vulture, and soon to be Kraven the Hunter. Does Madame Web take place in the same universe as Venom?
Update February 22, 2024: This article has been updated following the release of Madame Web with more information about the film’s connection to Venom, Morbius, and Kraven the Hunter.
Madame Web Does Not Take Place In The Same Universe As Venom
Despite being part of Sony’s Spider-Man Cinematic Universe, it appears that Madame Web takes place in its own universe apart from Venom. This was confirmed by Madame Web director S.J. Clarkson, who said that it is in its own standalone world. Madame Web notably takes place in 2003, whereas Venom and Morbius take place in the present day. This means there are no overt references to the other movies in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe films apart from The Daily Bugle, which is present across all Spider-Man media.
Now, due to the 2003 time period, there is a chance that director S.J. Clarkson might have meant that Madame Web is a standalone film but still within the wider universe of films like Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius but without an overt reference. It is sort of a cinematic universe Schrödinger Cat. It both does and doesn’t take place in the universe. It can be folded in later with references in Venom 3 or Kraven the Hunter, or Sony Pictures could forget it and say it is in its own standalone universe. Madame Web might be a prequel film to the events of the other films, allowing Madame Web (Dakota Johnson) and the Spider-Women of Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor), and Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced) to appear as fully formed superheroes in future crossover films with Morbius and Venom, as Madame Web teased the women in superhero costumes sometime in the future.
Yet given the poor box office and critical reaction to Madame Web, it is highly unlikely Sony will be eager to remind audiences of it again and bring back the heroes to crossover or fight their various anti-heroes and villains.
What Universe Does Venom Take Place In
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse featured a scene where the villain, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), traveled to the universe that Venom takes place in. The Spot encounters Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), a supporting character in Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The film labels that world as Earth-688, meaning the official designation for the universe that Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius take place in is Earth-688, where the Marvel Cinematic Universe that contains the Spider-Man films Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, takes place in Universe 616 or as the Spider-Verse films call it, Earth 19999.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage saw Eddie Brock and Venom transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to Doctor Strange’s spell, but notably the spell only brings people who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man into the MCU, which raises the question of if there is a Spider-Man in Earth-688 because so far it has not been hinted at or shown. Venom returned to his universe in the post-credit scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home before ever getting to encounter Spider-Man, but he did leave behind a piece of the symbiote in a bar in Mexico, hinting at Peter Parker getting his black suit.
This movie clearly set up a difference between the MCU and Sony’s Spider-Man: Universe, which was enforced by Morbius when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) from Spider-Man: Homecoming arrived on Earth-688. Notably, he mentions Spider-Man to Morbius, and Morbius never corrects him or questions it, which means Spider-Man might exist in this universe in some shape or form.
The Web of Life and Destiny Connects Them All
When Madame Web was first announced, many were scratching their heads as to why Sony Pictures picked her to be the lead of her own superhero film instead of focusing on Spider-Woman. With the expansion of the Multiverse across not just Marvel films but various other media, it became clear. In the comics, Madame Web can see the future across the multiverse through the Web of Life and Destiny, a force that connects all spider-themed heroes across the Multiverse.
The Web of Life and Destiny was introduced in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and it might have been that Sony Pictures wanted Madame Web to be the film that ties the MCU, the animated Spider-Verse movies, the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies, and their recently developed Sony Spider-Man Cinematic Universe together. It would also allow Sony to integrate their planned live-action Spider-Man: Noir series and their Silk series into the wider franchise if they needed to.
Madame Web, in her own universe, would be able to travel and communicate with other heroes across the multiverse and allow Sony to pay off connections teased in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius, which, through multiversal shenanigans, had characters cross between Sony’s universe and the MCU. Madame Web already showed Cassandra “Cassie” Webb astra projecting her own reality, so this would suggest she could do it across the universe. The film seems to tease it for a sequel that will likely never come.
What the future holds for Madame Web remains unclear. Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3 are both set for release this year, so there is always a chance Madame Web gets alluded to in those films, but it does appear unlikely.
Read Our Review of Madame Web.
-
Venom
- Release Date
- September 28, 2018
- Studio
- Sony Pictures
-
Morbius
Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead. Starring Jared Leto and Michael Keaton.
- Release Date
- April 1, 2022
- Studio
- Sony Pictures
-
Kraven the Hunter
- Release Date
- October 6, 2024
- Studio
- Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
