Sony Releasing More Marvel Movies Than Marvel Next Year
The MCU has provided a reliable, steady stream of superhero films for over a decade now, but 2024 will see things finally slow down following production delays from the strikes and reshoot schedules for several major films. In other words, the MCU is only releasing one Marvel film in 2024. Funnily enough, this means that Sony will actually be releasing more Marvel films than the MCU itself next year.
Sony Banks On Spider-Man
The world of IP rights is a tangled web, and Sony has long held the film rights for a ton of Marvel characters from the Spider-Man comics. This has led the company to create its own Spiderverse of films (to varying degrees of success) while also coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement to let Spider-Man finally appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, just because the MCU is slowing down next year doesn’t mean that Sony is going to slow down its Spiderverse plans.
Sony’s Spiderverse is releasing three different Marvel films in 2024 with Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter, and Venom 3. Meanwhile, Disney only has Deadpool 3 on the slate for the MCU. Of course, the MCU isn’t slowing down that much as there are still five Disney+ shows set to air at some point during the year.
Sony Set To Reign Supreme
With that being said, it’s certainly a big shift considering the films are typically the money makers while the Disney+ shows don’t have nearly the same tangible financial returns. One way or another, it seems likely that Sony is going to come out on top as far as pure volume of entertainment when it comes to Marvel films in 2024. However, this does play into Disney’s new direction of quality over quantity, as CEO Bob Iger announced during the company’s recent earnings call.
…But Is Sony Choosing The Right Characters?
It’s also worth noting that Sony’s Spiderverse has been a rollercoaster as far as critical and commercial success goes. While Tom Hardy’s Venom franchise has been pretty reliable from a box office perspective, there have also been major duds like Morbius. Also, characters like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter just don’t have the same name recognition as Marvel’s Deadpool.
Marvel’s 2024 Release Still The Most Anticipated
In fact, it seems likely that out of these four movies, Deadpool 3 is definitely going to be the one that cleans up at the box office. Venom 3 will undoubtedly bring in some decent numbers, but this is Deadpool’s first appearance as an official MCU character and Hugh Jackman is returning as Wolverine. As fun as the Venom films are, there’s just no way that the Deadpool franchise is going to lose in this battle, especially considering how much the previous two non-Marvel Cinematic Universe films in the franchise made.
No Superhero Fatigue In 2024
If Sony was releasing its Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse sequel, that might be a different story, but we definitely won’t be seeing that film in 2024. We’ll just have to wait and see who comes out on top between Sony and Marvel next year. Either way, fans are undoubtedly a bit relieved that they’ll get a bit of a break from the superhero fatigue with fewer films to catch in theaters.
