Sony boss Tom Rothman addresses future of ‘Spider-Man’ universe and reveals China problem: 'I didn't look..'
Things haven't been going well for the live-action 'Spider-Man' universe at Sony for the last couple of years. Although the franchise launched in 2018 with 'Venom' and set a high bar with box-office earnings of $856 million, the subsequent additions have mostly fallen flat. This includes the 2022 film 'Morbius', which earned $162 million globally, and the 2024 film 'Madame Web', which earned significantly less, bringing in just $100 million. 'Kraven the Hunter', released in 2024, was by far the worst of the lot, grossing just $62 million worldwide and falling well short of its $100+ million production budget.
Now, Sony is looking to make things right, and a reboot of the 'Spider-Man' franchise is the need of the hour. This was reiterated by Sony Pictures CEO and Chairman Tom Rothman, who recently sat down with Matt Belloni in 'The Town' podcast. When Belloni posed the question, "Where are we in the Spider-Man franchise? Not the animated Spider-Verse. Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?" Rothman answered, "No." Belloni then asked whether the Sony film boss ever wished to return to the doomed franchise, and the latter replied in the affirmative. “But it’ll be a fresh reboot?” asked Belloni. Rothman replied positively again. Rothman was then asked about "New people?", to which he answered, "Yes, Yes", before adding, "scarcity has value … you got to make the audience miss you.”
Another interesting piece of information unearthed by the podcast was that 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' was banned in China. Understandably, China has been a major market for Sony in recent years, with 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' earning $200 million there. Sony put great effort into marketing 'No Way Home' in China, even releasing a Chinese poster. If it were so released, 'No Way Home' would have been the first Marvel Phase 4 movie to overcome the censorship obstacles. But this was not meant to be. Rothman revealed that the Chinese Film Administration had objected to showing the Statue of Liberty, wherein much of the film's climax takes place. 
"(The China Film Administration) just said, ‘Small thing, no problem, just cut out the Statue of Liberty’ — which is where the climax is. That was their request,” revealed Rothman. It goes without saying that omitting the Statue of Liberty from the movie was out of the question, since it appears on screen for a considerable amount of time. Rothman further added, "Also, I really didn’t look forward to sitting in front of Congress telling them why I cut the Statue of Liberty out at the request of the Chinese Communist Party." 'Venom: The Last Dance' is available on Apple TV.
