Recently, Sony has faced several difficulties in managing their Spider-Man IP. Despite the monumental success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, made in collaboration with Marvel Studios, their solo universe featuring the other Spider-Man characters is not doing well. Reportedly, they had just faced another blow as their plans to bring the IP on streaming may be at risk.
Sony was planning to expand the iconic Marvel IP on streaming by introducing some new television series on Amazon Prime. They hired the revered Spider-Verse films’ producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller to bring this to fruition. But a report from Puck now states that Sony may not renew their deal with the writer-duo due to a heated debate regarding Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Noir series.
What went wrong between Sony and the Spider-Verse writers?
After the insane successes of the animated movies, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse, Sony decided to bring several TV projects featuring the variants of the wall-crawler. In 2019, they signed a 5-year 9-figure deal with the Spider-Verse films’ producers and writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller to overwatch the streaming department of the iconic Marvel hero.
This TV Spider-Man universe had a rocky start after the planned Silk: Spider Society series was scrapped earlier this year. Now, the other Spider-Noir series with Nicolas Cage in the lead also looks to be in trouble after Puck reports that Lord and Miller had a heated argument with the studio.
The writer duo had previously garnered immense praise for The LEGO Movie, the Spider-Verse films, and even Sony Pictures Television’s Apple TV+ series The Afterparty. However, Sony Pictures Television is reportedly not renewing their deal as they are not happy after the Silk series was shelved after 2 years of development and the budget issues regarding the Nicolas Cage show.
Nicolas Cage did an impressive work voicing Spider-Noir in the two Spider-Verse films. A certain section of the audience was excited for his live-action take on the superhero. Nevertheless, the behind-scenes issues raise some doubts regarding the upcoming Amazon Prime series.
The makers had immense hopes for the Spider-Noir series
In the comics, Spider-Noir is a unique version of Peter Parker in another universe where he hails from the time of New York’s Great Depression. It was a gritty take on the friendly neighborhood superhero and placed him among the black-and-white corrupt world of gangsters.
Unlike the comics, Sony planned to slightly deviate and not feature Nicolas Cage as another version of Peter Parker. Earlier this year, when the Oscar-winner spoke to Collider confirming his conversations with the studio, he shared that he would take inspiration from different iconic golden age performances for the role.
I can combine my favorite golden age performances, i.e. [Edward G.] Robinson, [James] Cagney, [Humphrey] Bogart, with a character that is, I guess, widely considered [to be] Stan Lee’s masterpiece. I see it as a kind of foray into a pop art mash up of, sort of, a [Jungian] Lichtenstein, mash up by way of Bogart and Cagney, but nothing’s definitive yet. It’s just conversation.
On the other hand, the Amazon MGM head for television, Vernon Sanders also confessed the makers’ excitement for the show stating that “Expanding the Marvel universe with ‘Noir’ is a uniquely special opportunity and we are honored to bring this series to our global Prime Video customers.”
Now it will be interesting to see how Sony handles the entire situation and if we can expect more Spider-Man content for streaming after Spider-Noir. Besides that, it will be also exciting to see if this fallout between the writers and the studio impacts their association with the upcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse film anyway.
