Sony Needs to Do This to Successfully Reboot Its Spider-Man Universe

Published: February 27, 2026

By Gavin Boyle

Sony Pictures Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman revealed that his studio plans to reboot the company’s Spider-Man universe with brand new actors and characters.

“Where are we in the Spider-Man franchise? Not the animated Spider-Verse. Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?” podcaster Matt Belloni asked Rothman. Rothman then revealed that the franchise would see a reboot soon with new people working on the movies.

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This shift in the Sony-run branch of the franchise does not come as a surprise given the broad failure of these movies to turn a profit, let alone connect with audiences. While the Marvel, Tom Holland-led side has been extremely successful, grossing just shy of $5 billion worldwide across three movies, the Sony-run franchise has failed to gross $200 million on multiple projects, with 2024’s KRAVEN THE HUNTER only bringing in $62 million worldwide.

Sony’s reboot of the Spider-Man franchise will need to be accompanied by a shift in the content’s focus if it is to succeed, as its prior movies have been dark and violent, pushing family audiences away. KRAVEN THE HUNTER, for example, featured 15 “f” words along with excessive violence at the end of the story. A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:

Unlike the comic books, the Kraven in KRAVEN THE HUNTER starts off as a vigilante fighting murderous gangsters. Also, the main plot has him fighting a gangster who’s kidnapped his younger brother. Thus, the movie has many fun scenes where Kraven uses his unique powers. However, KRAVEN THE HUNTER has some strong foul language, including about 15 “f” words and two strong profanities. It also has some very strong, bloody violence. In addition, the movie has two twists at the end that push Kraven toward evil than toward the good. Finally, the father in the story is a cold-hearted, evil man. So, KRAVEN THE HUNTER is excessive and ultimately unacceptable.

While Sony has failed to find success with the franchise in the live-action format, it has successfully built out the animated Spider-Verse through the success of SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE and its sequel SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE. Importantly, both of these movies feature stories that are uplifting and age-appropriate, allowing them to soar at the box office.

There is no lack of interest in new Spider-Man content from fans of the franchise. Thus the failure of Sony’s movies can be almost fully attributed to their excessive stories. A reboot of the series provides the studio an opportunity to move away from these dark tones and deliver families storylines that they will actually enjoy.

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