Every upcoming Spider-Man film as El Muerto is removed from Sony's release calendar

Everyone needs a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, and perhaps that is why the character's legacy — and universe — has endured for so long on the silver screen.

Sony has kept a tight hold of the rights to the Marvel franchise since bringing the character to audiences with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, though they chose to make a landmark deal with Marvel in 2015 that allowed Tom Holland don the webslinger's suit for the MCU.

Read more: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The best Easter eggs and cameos (spoilers)

Over the years Sony has been expanding the Spider-Man universe little by little, and things kicked into high gear after the box office success of Venom. The film opened the door for Sony's own cinematic universe, one they had long sought after, which focuses on various iconic villains from the Spidey comics.

This means that there are plenty of films in the Spider-Man universe for fans to look forward to.

Here is everything you need to know.

Kraven the Hunter - 6 October, 2023

Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes his Spider-Man debut as Kraven the Hunter, another iconic adversary from the webslinger's gallery of villains.

The film, which also stars Russell Crowe and tells Kraven's origin story, is expected to be released on October 6, 2023.

A first-look trailer was revealed on Tuesday, 20 June which showed Taylor-Johnson in character as he became accustomed to his super-powers that he received after a vicious lion attack.

Madame Web - 16 February, 2024

Dakota Johnson is taking on the villainous role of Madame Web in Sony's film of the same name, and her character Cassandra Web is clairvoyant with the ability to see into different worlds.

Johnson will be joined in the cast by Sydney Sweeney, who will portray Julia Carpenter, aka Spider-Woman, in the super-villain flick.

Filming has wrapped on the movie, and it is currently slated to be released on 16 February, 2024.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse - 29 March, 2024

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is delighting audiences worldwide currently, and the third film in the franchise, titled Beyond the Spider-Verse, has been given a release date of 29 March, 2024.

Read more: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse review: Animated sequel is a veritable masterpiece

The film will follow on from the events of the second animated film, which saw Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) learn that he is an anomaly in his universe and was never meant to be Spider-Man.

Rejecting the idea that all Spider-people have to follow the same path as Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) tells him, he escapes and ends up in the universe where he Miles Morales is the Prowler.

Venom 3 - TBC

Tom Hardy's Venom franchise will be getting a third film, in which he will return as Eddie Brock. The film will likely see the character deal with the aftermath of being sent to the world of Tom Holland's Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The film is in development and is currently slated for an October 2024 release, though a specific date has not yet been confirmed.

Spider-Man 4 - TBC

A fourth MCU Spider-Man is currently still in the works at Sony with Tom Holland expected to return to the franchise as Peter Parker after the dramatic events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Talks were taking place but have been paused amid the writer's strike.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Holland said of returning to the role: "I’m going to have to plead the fifth there because I’m not prepared to start talking about the future of Spider-Man.

Read more: What you need to know about Tom Holland's fourth Spider-Man movie

“As everyone knows, I love him. He changed my life. I love the character. Should we find a way to tell his story and do justice to him, we will do so. But if we can't find a way to do that, and if we can’t find a way to compete with the third one [2021’s mega-hit Spider-Man: No Way Home], then you know, he’ll swing off into the sunset.”

El Muerto - On hold

Sony has removed El Muerto from its release calendar, confirming that it had moved the Sony Spider-Man universe film from 12 January to a "TBD" release date on 21 June.

The film is set to star Bad Bunny in the title role with Jonás Cuarón directing it. The Spider-Man character is a wrestler with super-human strength and a notable villain in the comics.

However, because of the rapper's busy touring schedule and the ongoing writer's strike, Sony has decided to delay the release of El Muerto until a later date.

Sony's unconfirmed Spider-Man films

There are three unspecified films within Sony's Spider-Man universe that have been given the release dates but have not been revealed.

The first is expected to be released on July 12, 2024, the second on November 8, 2024, and the third of June 27, 2025.

There are several Spider-Man projects that are in the works, such as TV shows for Spider-Man Noir with Oren Uziel as showrunner, and a Silk: Spider-Society series helmed by Angela Kang.

In terms of films, there are also a few projects in early stages of development such as a Sinister Six movie, a Nightwatch film, a film centred on the character Jackpot and untitled films directed by Robert Orci and Olivia Wilde, respectively.

Further details have yet to be revealed about these projects.

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