Marvel Studios president and Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige reportedly warned Sony about expanding the world of Morbius and Venom -- collectively known as the Spider-Verse -- too quickly and trying to replicate the hugely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to The Ankler's Jeff Sneider, Feige does offer notes on the films comprising the Spider-Verse. Sneider reported, "One insider credits Feige for guiding Sony's approach and warning the studio not to get too ahead of itself in terms of building some larger universe in the vein of the Avengers movies."
Since 2015, Sony and Marvel Studios have collaborated in order to bring Spider-Man into the MCU. The Web-Slinger made his franchise debut in Captain America: Civil War and has seen three solo films set in that universe. More recently, Sony and Marvel Studios' universes collided in the massively-successful Spider-Man: No Way Home. On top of bringing three iterations of Spider-Man together in one film, as well as Tom Hardy's Venom, the movie also left its mark on the box office, grossing $1.9 billion worldwide. An extended cut of No Way Home is scheduled for release this fall.
Sony's Spider-Verse
The events of the film were used to expand Sony's own Spider-Verse. The widely-criticized post-credits sequence of Morbius introduced the MCU's Vulture into the Spider-Verse through Doctor Strange's multiverse-traversing portals. The scene is currently available online on Sony's official channels. Fans and critics alike have described Morbius as messy and lacking in an understanding of which universe it is actually a part of.
Alongside overwhelmingly negative reviews, Morbius proved to be a box office bomb, grossing just $163.8 million worldwide against a budget of $75 million. Surrounding its release were a series of memes ironically suggesting the Sony film was the greatest film ever made and most successful to hit screens. In an attempt to take advantage of the trending memes, Sony re-released Morbius for a weekend. Its limited return to theaters also failed to impress in earnings, grossing $85,000.
Sony's Spider-Verse is composed of Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius, with several more projects currently in various stages of production. These include Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web. There are currently only rumors surrounding the latter. With regard to Kraven, the filming of certain sequences have been witnessed across London, though specific characters or events have not been identified.
Morbius is currently available for streaming.
Source: The Ankler, via ComicBook.com