Although ‘Silver & Black’ is off the table, the studio is plotting numerous standalone films set in and around the Spider-Man universe, including ‘Nightwatch’ and ‘Jackpot,’ along with previously announced films like ‘Kraven the Hunter’ and ‘Morbius.’
If you, like me, find yourself down the rabbit hole of comic book conspiracy theories, you might eventually come across the case of Nightwatch, the Manhattan time-traveling superhero whose costumes and powers bears a striking resemblance to Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Adding to this speculation is the fact that Marvel introduced Nightwatch less than a year after McFarlane left to start his own comic book company. Did Marvel basically steal Spawn from an ex-employee? Were there ongoing legal battles we should’ve been reading about this whole time? Are we missing out on superhero drama?!
I probably don’t need to tell you that Baby Driver is a good movie; odds are you’ve seen it in theaters - maybe more than once - and might even own have a copy of the soundtrack downloaded on your phone. As good as Baby Driver The Movie might be, Baby Driver The Soundtrack is even better, with a ton of really great songs from artists as diverse as Simon & Garfunkel, Blur, and Martha and the Vandellas. And until now, one of the better production stories has been all the hard work Edgar Wright and company put into securing the rights for each of these tracks.
When The Amazing Spider-Man 2 went down, it took Sony’s ambitious plans for an expanded Spidey universe down with it — including projects like super-villain spinoff Sinister Six. Thanks to a deal with Marvel that allows the beloved hero (and a few of his Avengers pals) to swing between the two studios, the franchise is getting back on track. While the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming proves the value of Marvel’s involvement, it’s also emboldened Sony to start spinning yet another ambitious web. Venom and Silver and Black are just the beginning.
For the past week, fans have been doing their best lawyer impressions and trying to figure out how movies like Venom and Spider-Man: Homecoming will connect in the broader Marvel universe. It wasn’t that long ago that Sony producer Amy Pascal hinted that Venom would be somewhat connected to the Spider-Man of the MCU, which confused the heck out of all of us and started the rumor mill working overtime on how Sony and Marvel’s properties might work together. Of course, as is always the case with the particularly juicy rumors, there was always the chance that someone misspoke.
We’ve known for years that Apple had some designs on original TV, but early entries like Planet of the Apps or August’s Carpool Karaoke spinoff haven’t made major impact. That may change, as Apple hires some of Sony Pictures Television’s top representatives to spearhead the next phase.
Sony raised quite a few eyebrows with their announcement last week that they would begin a Clean Version Initiative with a bunch of their films in order to sanitize them for younger audiences. The kind of thing that made the list were comedies like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and Grown Ups, but Sony also listed Hancock, Captain Phillips, and Inferno for all those under-13 Dan Brown fans out there. But after a number of directors and stars took to social media to voice their concerns, Sony has decided not to bowdlerize any movie against its director’s wishes.