Over the years, there has been a lot left to be desired with how Sony is handling Spider-Man. Ever since releasing Tobey Maguire's third film as the Web-Slinger full of questionable decisions, Sony hasn't been able to come up with a winner, nor create a cohesive cinematic universe in the way Marvel has done. Instead, they have pushed a couple of bad ideas down everyone's throat, like coming up with a film focusing on Aunt May or putting out a pointless endeavor like Morbius. Their recent announcement of an El Muerto movie just proves this point.
As compared to Marvel's successful model of creating a cinematic universe, Sony's efforts are seemingly going the other way. We take a look down below at why this Spider-Man spinoff is another move that won't help Sony succeed.
No one asked for a film about El Muerto
Any true Spider-Man fan out there would know that this part of the Marvel universe is filled to the brim with insanely great ideas. In the comics alone, one would be in awe of amazing stories like Spider-Verse, The Death of Ultimate Spider-Man, Kraven's Last Hunt, and The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, among many others. But instead of taking one or two of these ideas, translating them well onto film, and reaping the rewards after, Sony has decided to announce the development of an El Muerto film with Bad Bunny in it.
The idea of expanding the Spider-Man lore further via El Muerto isn't a bad one in itself. The doubtful element here is that no one ever asked for this character to get the big screen treatment ahead of more established characters in the Spider-Verse. If given the chance to choose between the likes of Black Cat, Silver Sable, Spider-Gwen, or a solid sequel to either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield's versions, no one in their right mind would go for a relatively unknown character in Spider-Man's part of the Marvel universe.
The comic writer who created El Muerto waking up to learn that Sony is making a whole solo movie with Bad Bunny based on a throwaway character they made back in 2006 for literally just two issues pic.twitter.com/Om6y3tuXCv
— (shitty) Movie Details (@shittykino) April 30, 2022
Proof of that notion can be clearly seen in El Muerto's appearances in the source material, which are very limited. This character first appeared in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 way back in 2006 and hasn't been used since. To be fair, it's pretty hard to shoehorn a wrestler who gets his powers from a magical mask into a lore that's already full of compelling anti-heroes, such as Venom.
This is what makes Sony's decision to announce an El Muerto film such a head-scratcher. That's why for this film to succeed, every element of it should be so much better than what the company has ever done with their Spider-Man property. Unfortunately, things aren't looking good from where we stand.
Sony's poor track record with Spider-Man
After more than two decades of handling the Web-Slinger's film endeavors, it's safe to say that Sony has churned out more losers than winners. While the first and second Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire will always be loved and Into The Spider-Verse is a revolutionary move, there will always be the specter of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Morbius, Venom: Let There Be Carnage hanging over everyone's head. And apparently, they even toyed with the idea to have Maguire and Garfield face off with one of the worst comic book movie titles ever.
Reportedly, after TASM 2 flopped, one option Sony
considered was bringing Sam Raimi back to direct a film
that would have pitted Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man against
Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, titled Spider-Man Vs The
Amazing Spider-Man. However, the film never happened pic.twitter.com/2Kk2axCGVc— Spider-Man News (@MCUSpideyNews) May 2, 2022
While Sony's catalog of characters is fewer than that of Marvel, fans still consider this number enough to come up with a fun cinematic universe for everyone's favorite webhead. But upon looking at the company's track record with this property, there is very little hope that the upcoming El Muerto can be a good one for Sony.
With little material from the comics, uninspired decisions that lead to disappointing films, and a poor record when it comes to world-building, there's really nothing worth looking forward to when it comes to this Bad Bunny-starrer. Unless Kevin Feige steps in and works his magic onto this part of the Marvel universe, fans won't expect Sony to get their act together and give them the Spider-Verse they deserve. Unfortunately, El Muerto won't be the key to making that happen.
Follow Us
Subscribe