[Spiderman. Photo Credit to unsplash]

Sony Pictures announced on December 10, 2024, that they would terminate their Spider-Man Universe (SSU) following the disappointing performance of “Kraven the Hunter.”

The decision signals the conclusion of a journey that began in 2018 with “Venom,”

Despite harsh criticism, the film achieved remarkable commercial success, earning $856.08 million worldwide including $213.51 million in North America.

This performance nearly matched "Spider-Man: Homecoming’s" which became part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was not far behind, grossing $344.2 million in North America and $880.16 million worldwide. 

It also attracted 3.88 million viewers in Korea.

“Kraven the Hunter,” the sixth and final installment in the SSU, chronicles the origin story of one of Spider-Man’s most formidable adversaries.

The narrative follows Kraven, a Russian émigré who fled his homeland after the 1917 Revolution. 

After leaving his homeland after the Russian Revolution in 1917, Craven is a hunter who came back from the superhuman strength of a beast by taking potions made from jungle herbs at the threshold of death. 

The movie is about how, why, and how one of Marvel's most iconic villains, Kraven was born, and how he is set on a path of ruthless revenge. 

Even though SSU movies’ failures, Kraven the Hunter earned the fans’ expectation after release of the trailer. 

Because Kraven the Hunter is the first 19 rated movie in SSU and the trailer shows another Spiderman’s arch enemy, Rhino. 

Actually, Rhino showed up in the SSU movie before, Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spiderman 2. 

But Rhino showed up in the very last scene only so it was not enough to satisfy Marvel comics fans. 

In the comics, Rhino tried to bring back the rest of the families of poor immigrants who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia, but he had no money, and he fell into despair. 

In addition, he had little curriculum and no expertise, so he had to work for a criminal organization with all his might. 

Then, Eastern European agents approached him. 

The agents said they would give him a large sum in exchange for participating in a specific experiment, and he accepted. 

After the experiment, he became the supervillain Rhino. 

In the Amazing Spiderman2, Rhino is a normal man who wears a huge rhino-like iron suit unlike the comics' design. 

But in the trailer of Kraven the Hunter, Rhino showed up with comics Rhino’s identity, thick and grey skin.

Despite these expectations, Kraven the Hunter couldn’t avoid SSU’s disastrous result. 

After the movie released, “Kraven the Hunter” underperformed in North America at $24.09 million and $58.95 million worldwide. 

It also received poor reviews in terms of work, including 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, a movie evaluation site, and a C grade on CinemaScore.

The film never reached South Korean theaters.

A Sony representative revealed that the management team, which was inspired by Venom's success, believed they could replicate that achievement with other Spider-Man-adjacent characters like Morbius and Madame Web.

However, this strategy proved misguided as Venom’s established popularity had been instrumental to its trilogy’s success.

Despite this setback, Sony’s animated Spider-Verse series continues to receive critical acclaim, maintaining fan enthusiasm for future installments in that franchise.