Sony had huge plans for their film universe centered around Spider-Man, but this planned shared universe was a tough sell from the start because of the glaring issue that it didn’t actually involve Spider-Man. The wildly popular character was over in the MCU thanks to a partnership between Marvel Studios and Sony. Though they’ve done well with animation thanks to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, in live-action the strategy shifted the focus to Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery. It’s difficult to build a Spider-Man universe where you have no Spider-Man and want people to get invested in villains. Combine that with poorly received films, and it’s not surprising that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe ended up as a pretty colossal failure.
Sony did attempt to bridge the gap between the universes and put them together a few times. Notably, Venom was brought into the MCU due to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, yet it only ended up being a post-credits scene joke and nothing more. One of those attempts brought a classic MCU antagonist into the SSU with Michael Keaton’s Vulture, and now he’s unfortunately stuck there.
In the pages of Marvel comics, Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture, isn’t one of Spider-Man’s most important villains, but he’s one of his earliest, though often depicted as an older guy who isn’t a huge threat (plus, his winged costume can come across as goofy). Thankfully, Spider-Man: Homecoming found a way to make him menacing. His motivations, while tied to Tony Stark, were clear, and his suit and weapons being fueled by Chitauri technology made him imposing and clearly rooted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Michael Keaton’s performance is also one of the best in the entire MCU. The scene where he figures out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man while in a car together is tense and iconic for a scene where neither character is wearing their super costumes. There’s something kind of terrifying about Vulture, and even nearly a decade after his appearance, he remains among the best villains in the MCU. Very few could be considered 10/10 villains, yet he’s up there with the likes of Thanos, Killmonger, and Kilgrave. There was even hope that he’d return one day, but Sony made that difficult.
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe consisted of just six movies, and half of them were the Venom trilogy. The others were Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter, all of which were poorly received critically and commercially, cementing why this universe is no longer active. That said, the end of Morbius attempted something unique. Adrian Toomes was transported from his universe into Morbius’. He deduced that this odd situation somehow involved Spider-Man, leading him to approach Michael Morbius so they could form a team. It looked like Sony was setting up a Sinister Six movie.
Vulture and Morbius could be joined by Venom, Kraven the Hunter, and several other characters they could introduce. Alas, several things about the Vulture and Morbius scene made no sense. The main issue is that Vulture’s arrival in this universe has no explanation, as it wouldn’t fit with the Doctor Strange spell from Spider-Man: No Way Home. He also shouldn’t have his tech in this universe since he didn’t transport with it. On top of that, if they couldn’t bring a Spider-Man in, the Sinister Six project would’ve had a hard time getting going.
Although Sony’s movies in this universe combined to gross more than $2 billion, $1.84 billion of that came from the Venom trilogy alone, painting a grim picture for how fans felt about the other movies. By the end of 2024, Sony stopped producing films in the universe, meaning that the Vulture is stuck in that world.
You can never really say never when it comes to comic book movies. Universes have crossed over, and old favorites don their superhero suits again all the time. In fact, Michael Keaton even did it by returning as Batman in The Flash. Theoretically, he could come back as Adrian Toomes, though it seems unlikely. A case could be made that he’d return to the MCU the way that villains from the past did in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but it’s hard to imagine a repeat of that story.
Plus, Spider-Man: Brand New Day seemed to hammer home that things are different for Spidey in the MCU going forward. The best MCU villains always find a way to return, like Thanos in Marvel Zombies or Killmonger in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but this feels like the end of the road for Vulture. If the decision was ever made to bring back Vulture in the MCU, it would almost certainly just not acknowledge that Morbius scene anyway.
