REVIEW COLLECTION: Sony Spider-Man Universe

[WRITER'S NOTE: The following was intended for my Instagram page of the same name, but moved to this blog due to its length.] 

With Sony/Marvel's Spider-Man: No Way Home re-released in theaters this weekend (and featuring 20-minutes of extended footage), moviegoers have an opportunity to re-experience one of the defining superhero movies of the last several years. 

I've written before about how the Tom Holland Spider-Man flicks have been doing a great job with the wallcrawler's rogues gallery. But the recent spinoff universe of films centered around other such villains has been mixed at best, and poor to say the least. 

Beginning with a 2018 origin story of how reporter Eddie Brock became the infamous alien symbiote Venom, lead actor Tom Hardy was, at least, more comic book accurate when compared to the rather pale and skinny variation by Topher Grace in 2017's Spider-Man 3. But Venom is a rather ho-hum special effects movie. A few elements rub this writer the wrong way (parasitic, weird, and gross, including an embarrassing restaurant scene), and its worldview is very antisocial. The movie does have some incredible post-credits scenes, however, as well as a final cameo appearance by Stan Lee. 

The 2021 sequel, Let There Be Carnage, is even more ridiculous, not to mention more sick and twisted, with mo-cap expert Andy Serkis (2018's Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle) stepping behind the camera. The plot is basically Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom (who have a crazy "buddy comedy" relationship this time around) going up against Woody Harrelson's serial killer Cletus Kasady/Carnage. If Sony/Marvel ends up bringing Hardy into the Holland universe, maybe that'll be an improvement. 

This year's Morbius had Jared Leto (who, as of late, has been taking on more bizarre film roles/choices) bringing the lesser-known doctor-turned-vampire to life. The film has been getting savagely panned by critics and audiences, and it's easy to see why. 

While only a few previous Marvel entries have attempted to branch out into horror (The New Mutants, anybody?), Morbius is murky, muddled, and convoluted, with stale design and cheesy VFX. It doesn't help that certain elements and genre tropes have been seen many times before (ahem, Dark Knight). Michael Keaton's cameo as Vulture/Adrien Toomes (as seen in various ads) is frankly what the rest of the movie could've used more of. 

At least Sony & Marvel are only three films in. They should try being less acquired going forward.