Sony's Spider-Man Universe

Among other names, Sony's Spider-Man Universe is a Shared Universe created by Sony, based on characters associated with Spider-Man. The universe is born out of a Loophole Abuse: since Sony is unable to make live-action movies about Spider-Man, they make live-action movies about Spider-Man's villains and supporting characters, thus allowing both Disney and Sony to make Spider-related movies.

The end goal of the first arc of the universe is an Avengers/Justice League-type movie when Vulture, Morbius, Venom, Kraven and two yet-unrevealed villains come together in the Sinister Six. However, Arc Fatigue soon set in: the fact that said movie is taking long to make (and the fact that, as of this writing, we are still waiting for the solo movies for the fourth and fifth members) cause many people who don't read Wikipedia or other news sites to wonder what the end goal of the universe is.

The films are:

• Venom (2018)
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
• Morbius (2022)
• Madame Web (2024)
• Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
• Kraven the Hunter (2024)

The television series are:

• Spider-Noir (TBD)

Tropes used in Sony's Spider-Man Universe include:

• Adaptation Species Change: As Sony does not have the rights to use mutants, all mutant characters are either enhanced humans or mutates.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Donna Diego dies before she can become Scream, and John Jameson dies before he can become Man-Wolf.
  • Madame Web frequently mentions that Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin and Anya Corazon are Future Badasses but their teenage selves shown in the film proper are just teenage girls.
  • Likewise, the same film has Mary Parker as just an ordinary civilian instead of a SHIELD agent.
• Age Lift:
  • Carnage is much older than in the comics.
  • Madame Web has Peter Parker as a newborn when Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin and Anya Corazon are teenagers when the four are usually around the same age. This also makes him about thirty years younger than Eddie Brock when, again, the two are usually contemporaries.
• Alternate Universe: Venom establishes that the Spider-Verse movies take place in a different universe to the Sonyverse, while Let There Be Carnage would also confirm that the MCU exists in a separate universe.
• Big Eater: Venom.
• Bigger Bad: The Last Dance sets up Knull as such.
• The Cameo: Stan Lee makes one of his last in Venom. His likeness cameos in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
• Composite Character:
  • Carlton Drake becomes Riot in Venom.
  • Dr. Paine becomes Agony in Venom: The Last Dance.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to the MCU films, the Sonyverse is much darker and violent, mainly being populated by antiheroes while even the colour palette being more muted. In many respects, the films could be considered more horror movies than straight up superhero ones. Madame Web is an exception however, being a more traditional superhero film with more heroic leads.
• Gender Flip: Dr. Paine is male in the comics, but female in the Sonyverse.
• Immediate Sequel: Venom: The Last Dance starts during Eddie and Venom's cameo during Spider-Man: No Way Home (albeit reshot) and picks up right when the duo are returned to their own universe.
• Minor Major Character/Never Trust a Title: Given its official name, one would expect the Sonyverse to have a Spider-Man in it. It does but, due to being legally unable to use him (as the entire point behind the Sonyverse's existence is that they can't make live-action movies about Spider-Man) , he only exists either as just Peter Parker or as The Ghost, his biggest role being when he was a Living Prop to make Mary Parker Imperiled By Pregnancy in the climax of Madame Web (though Morbius recognizes the name when the Vulture alludes to his MCU counterpart). Yet he commands a Character Title (note that this page was launched as "Sony's Sinister Six Universe" in True Tropes precisely for this reason).
• Movie Superheroes Wear Black:
  • Downplayed for Venom. His primary colour has always been black but since he's not mimicking Spider-Man's costume, he lacks the white stripes typical to the suits he normally makes for Peter and Eddie.
  • In the Future Badasses visions during Madame Web, the coloured parts of the Boo Crew's suits are notably more muted than their comic variants.
• Not Quite Dead: A Foregone Conclusion, since he needs to be around for the Sinister Six team-up movie. Venom pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to destroy the Xenophages. But the piece of him that he budded off in Mexico is still around, ensuring that it eventually bonds with Eddie.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Downplayed for Venom. He's not exactly weak but he is shown to be something of a Badass Normal, compared to the other Symbiotes. It's actually a factor in why he likes Earth so much. For once, he gets to be the big dog.
• Race Lift: Carlton Drake, Ezekiel Sims, Mattie Franklin and Rex Strickland are non-white in the Sonyverse, and white in the comics.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The Symbiotes sealed Knull on Klyntar after turning against him.
• Shared Universe
• Transplant: The MCU's Vulture is, somehow, transported to the Sonyverse by Strange's spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home during The Stinger of Morbius
• Truer to the Text: Compared to Sony's prior two attempts at Spider-Man, which tried to ground the characters into reality, this one embraces its more outlandish comic book roots.
• Twenty Minutes Into the Past: Released in 2024, the bulk of Madame Web takes place in 2003.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Morbius is a "living vampire" created by science, rather than a supernatural undead being.
• Villain Protagonists: Venom, Morbius, Kraven and the two yet-unrevealed villains are this.