Spider-Man never appeared in Sony spinoff movies for one very good reason

As the latest Sony Spider-Man Universe movie to receive critical backlash, Kraven the Hunter is another example of a Spider-Man spinoff to go without its most famous character.

Kraven the Hunter isn’t Sony’s only attempt at cashing in on Spider-Man‘s villain roster by a mile. Just earlier this year, Madame Web became one of the worst-reviewed movies of 2024, both critically and by fans.

Prior to this, Morbius and the Venom movies were also part of the mini franchise, with the former becoming another box office bomb and the latter having a mixed reception across its trilogy.

Kraven (released on December 13) is the latest in a long line of Spider-Man movies without Spider-Man himself, but a recent report has revealed that this was an intentional choice on Sony’s part.

Spider-Man couldn’t be in Kraven the Hunter because of the MCU

After Spider-Man was first introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016’s Civil War, the character’s rights became even more complicated when Tom Holland’s Spidey got his own trilogy with Sony, with one film including appearances from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s previous iterations.

So, the question always remained: Why doesn’t Spider-Man appear in the Sony spinoff movies? According to a report by Variety, which includes insider sources, Sony always had the rights to use Spider-Man in Venom and Morbius but opted not to.

The reason behind this “fatal flaw” is reportedly a result of a prediction that audiences would not feel comfortable seeing Holland’s Spider-Man appear in non-MCU movies, especially after No Way Home, Loki, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness established firm boundaries within the cinematic universe.

Such limitations made a huge impact on movies like Morbius, which needed reshoots to justify Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes (who appeared in the MCU’s Homecoming) sharing a scene with Jared Leto’s Morbius.

Much like the other spinoff movies, Spidey doesn’t appear in Kraven the Hunter. At the time of writing, Kraven (released on December 13), is sitting at 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and is estimated to make only $13-$15 million at the box office during its opening weekend.

To find out what we thought, check out our Kraven the Hunter review. You can also take a look at the Kraven the Hunter ending explained, and find out when it will stream.