Whereas Marvel Studios could also be in essentially the most reflective stage of its existence thus far, with a number of previous tasks not matching as much as prior successes, pleasure couldn’t be greater for the team-up blockbuster Avengers: Doomsday to hit the 2026 film schedule, and the identical goes for the MCU’s subsequent co-production with Sony, the at the moment filming Spider-Man: Model New Day. And it sounds just like the period of Sony’s bitter Spidey spinoffs could also be over, at the least in line with its CEO.
Beforehand a Roku board member, Ravi Ahuja was tapped to take over Sony Footage as CEO in late 2024, and he was formally slotted into the function in January 2025, changing outgoing head honcho Tony Vinciquerra. The latter was on the head of the corporate all through the run of Marvel-adjacent whiffs such because the poorly reviewed Madame Internet, the much more poorly reviewed Morbius and the equally panned trilogy capper Venom: The Final Dance. Talking at a Financial institution of America convention (by way of TheWrap), Ahuja addressed the present state of superhero cinema, saying:
There was a time period the place something superhero was virtually assured to do effectively. I feel [the bar] for superhero films, it was comparatively low. Within the mid-2010s just about all of them would do unbelievable enterprise, however now even superhero films need to have a level of originality. They’ve so as to add one thing totally different. They need to have emotional connection. They need to be cultural occasions that may be marketed that means.
Now, that is a fairly broad generalization, since there have been positively some superhero films that also roughly failed on the field workplace throughout the style’s heyday. One can level to Inexperienced Lantern barely making greater than its funds, or the jumbled releases of The New Mutants and Darkish Phoenix. However for essentially the most half Ahuja is not improper.
Christopher Nolan’s Darkish Knight trilogy and the rise of the MCU made it clear how huge such properties might be on the large display screen, and all issues Avengers went above and past in elevating expectations. However not every little thing will be The Avengers, and actually most issues are far, removed from it.
That mentioned, a film not having essentially the most huge funds behind it’s much less of a difficulty if the mission itself will be seen and offered as an occasion. James Gunn’s Superman had that sort of caché simply from being the primary live-action DCU mission, however one might make the identical distinction for Clayface because the uncommon horror film inside the supe subgenre. (Or for the Marvel Zombies miniseries, for that matter.)
I feel Venom might have perhaps felt like extra of a cultural occasion as a best-case situation, however fell wanting that. (That trilogy was technically a hit regardless of its unfavourable essential consideration.) However I do not suppose something might have saved Madame Internet or Morbius in that means, which simply goes to point out {that a} good story and characters are simply as mandatory as a sellable marketing campaign. Let’s not neglect the former boss defended releasing such bombs, and he’ll nonetheless be on the board on the studio till the tip of the yr.
Ravi Ahuja reaffirmed that he goals to proceed pushing for the theatrical expertise to be as communally pleasant as will be, saying:
It’s a bit of selling, but it surely’s making it an occasion that individuals wish to exit to theaters and watch collectively as effectively. That’s all the time been the case. I feel it’s simply even more durable than it was once.
It is positively more durable to look at and chuckle together with mid-level comedies at theaters as of late, because the bulk of these releases are going straight to streaming, the place it is mainly unimaginable to make any film launch really feel like an occasion.
Time will inform whether or not or not Ahuja will stroll proudly or stumble repeatedly with regards to Sony’s Marvel tasks, but when Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Noir will get axed earlier than it premieres, that’ll most likely be a superb indicator.