Venom 3 box office paints a grim future for Sony's Spider-Man Universe

When the first Venom movie was released back in 2018, it became a smashing (and frankly quite surprising) success. Granted, critics had some not-so-nice things to say about it, but even with that, the movie earned over $856 million at the box office on a budget of just $100 million. In a time when audiences still pictured Topher Grace as the Lethal Protector, everyone was eager to see a more comic-book-accurate representation of the character and the results definitely paid off. However, what was once seen as an endless gold mine has now dwindled three movies in, putting the whole future of Sony's Spider-Man Universe into question.

Venom: The Last Dance underwhelms at the Box Office

Venom: The Last Dance earned slightly over $456.3 million as of November 25, 31 days after its theatrical release. That makes it (at the moment) the lowest-grossing entry in the Lethal Protector trilogy, even when it featured the shocking demise of the Venom symbiote and a few surprising easter eggs along the way such as the introduction of Eugene "Flash" Thompson. The movie had a reported budget of $120 million, which means Sony won't lose money on it even accounting for marketing expenses. Nonetheless, the results are far from being ideal, and it just gets worse when you start to think about what comes next.

Venom is as beloved as Spider-Man villains go. Only the likes of the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, or Kingpin could compete against him in terms of popularity. However, they all had a role to play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which makes it all the more difficult for any of them to show up in the SSU since licensing rights between Sony and Disney are very complicated. So that means only lesser and lesser known Spider-Man villains could opt to star in their own live-action movies — something which would definitely impact the box office. A great example is Sony's upcoming movie: Kraven the Hunter.

Kraven isn't one of the most "beloved" villains ever made, that's for sure, and even then he's appeared in multiple video games and animated series. Besides, he's the star of one of Spidey's most beloved comic book series ever, which is not something many other characters can say. But even then, his upcoming movie is tracking to make just between $20 to $25 million on its domestic opening, which is even less than what Morbius earned. Part of that is because Sergei Kravinoff isn't as popular as, say, Venom himself. So what will happen when Sony has to reach the bottom of the barrel where only characters such as Spencer Smythe are left?

There's another big factor in play that we need to consider, and that is the quality of the movies themselves. Venom: The Last Dance (or any Venom movie for that matter) is far from being a cinematic masterpiece, but at least it's a fun time if you turn your brain off. However, Madame Web and Morbius couldn't even excel in this aspect. And in a time where more and more people seem to be affected by "superhero fatigue", it's imperative for studios to make projects that stand out for all the right reasons. Unfortunately, now that the SSU has a bad reputation, not even the positive early reactions to Kraven the Hunter are enough for the movie to aim for a strong opening.

It's undeniable the SSU is in danger, especially considering its most popular character is (momentarily) out of the picture and there's no clear direction moving forward. It seems Sony intends to find a saving grace in Agent Venom, but I personally think that won't be enough. Maybe it is time to consider selling the rights to Spider-Man characters back to Marvel before the endless goldmine turns into a permanent loss of profit.

Kraven the Hunter will be released on Dec. 13, 2024