Although Marvel and Sony are in cahoots when it comes to featuring Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the latter studio is also running its own side franchise of Spider-characters unconnected to what's happening with Tom Holland's version of the Web-Slinger. Venom opened on October 5 and is still killing at the box office, and having seen how financially successful the symbiote-powered anti-hero's movie has been, Sony has gone ahead and dated two more of this Spider-verse films for 2020.
According to Variety, an "untitled Sony-Marvel project" will be released on July 10, 2020, and an "untitled Sony-Marvel sequel" will follow on October 2 of the same year. Although neither of these two movies are named, it's easy to guess what they probably are. The first date is probably reserved for Morbius, the next Spider-Man spinoff on the docket, while the sequel is practically guaranteed to be Venom 2. However, until Sony discloses more information, we can't say with absolute certainty that these are the two movies on the way.
Morbius was announced around this time last year, and just like his comic book counterpart, the eponymous protagonist, played by Jared Leto, will be a scientist who, while looking for a cure for his rare blood disease, accidentally becomes a "living vampire," which includes gaining a thirst for blood. Morbius is a particularly tragic character and, like Venom, has been depicted as more of an anti-hero rather than an outright super villain.
No specific plot details about the Morbius movie have been revealed yet, but last month, producer Avi Arad stated that it will begin filming as early as February 2019. Assuming that's still the plan, then that would leave plenty of time for Morbius to be ready by July 2020. With Morbius being the second major protagonist to be introduced to Sony's Spider-Man-less franchise, there's a lot riding on his movie to both make him appealing to folks who don't follow the comics and strengthen this new cinematic universe.
As for Venom 2, it's hardly surprising that Sony has decided to move ahead with this sequel. While Venom has earned a lot of negative reviews from critic, that has dented its commercial performance in the slightest. Not only has it performed well during its domestic run, it's been a gigantic hit internationally, particularly in China, where it scored a 10-day total of $187 million. Currently Venom stands at over $780 million worldwide, and with numbers like that, a sequel is inevitable.
Venom also took the liberty of laying groundwork for Venom in its mid-credits scene, as superhero movies often do now. Eddie Brock, having beaten Riot and established a good rapport with the Venom symbiote, traveled to San Quentin Prison to interview serial killer Cletus Kasady, better known as Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson. Declaring that when he escapes, "there will be carnage," Harrelson's Cletus essentially assured fans that when we next see him in Venom 2, he'll have a symbiote of his own and take the fight to Eddie.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest updates concerning Sony's Spider-Man spinoffs. In the meantime, you can learn what movies are coming out next year by scanning through our 2019 release schedule.
