Sony and Amazon Are Weighing Four New ‘Spider-Man’ TV Spinoffs

Sony’s attempts to build out a television universe around Spider-Man have followed a genuinely bumpy road over the past several years. What started as an ambitious plan to mine hundreds of Marvel characters tied to the web-slinger’s world has produced far more false starts than actual hits, testing the patience of both the studio and its streaming partner.

That partnership hit another rough patch just this past week, when Prime Video officially canceled ‘Spider-Noir’ after a single season, despite the Nicolas Cage-led series earning strong reviews and several Emmy wins. The cancellation came down to the increasingly common streaming calculation of costs versus viewership, even as the show’s critical reception suggested Sony finally had a genuine hit on its hands.

Rather than abandoning the Spider-Man television strategy entirely, Sony and Amazon appear to be doubling down with a more cautious approach. According to an exclusive report, the two companies are weighing four different Spider-Man universe scripts, with plans to potentially greenlight just one or two of them moving forward, according to details reported by The Ankler.

The report doesn’t reveal which characters or specific premises the four projects center on, but it does name the writers currently attached to each script. Kelvin Yu, creator and showrunner of ‘American Born Chinese,’ is developing one of the projects, while Alison Tatlock, an Emmy-nominated writer known for her work on ‘Better Call Saul’ and ‘Pluribus,’ is attached to another.

Rounding out the group of writers are Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert, the co-creators behind ‘For All Mankind,’ along with Megan McDonnell, best known for her work on ‘WandaVision.’ That collection of talent spans prestige character drama, high-concept science fiction, and Marvel-specific storytelling experience, suggesting Sony is casting a fairly wide net in terms of tone and approach.

This new slate arrives after a string of difficulties trying to translate Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent characters into successful film franchises. While ‘Venom’ became a genuine commercial success, other attempts like ‘Morbius,’ ‘Madame Web,’ and ‘Kraven the Hunter’ struggled to turn relatively minor Spider-Man characters into compelling standalone properties, ultimately prompting Sony to pause further live-action spinoff development following ‘Kraven’s’ underperformance.

Television hasn’t proven any easier so far. The first project greenlit under Sony and Amazon’s broader television partnership, a Cindy Moon-led series called ‘Silk: Spider Society’ with Angela Kang attached as showrunner, was scrapped entirely before ever reaching screens, leaving ‘Spider-Noir’ to become the first series to actually air under the deal.

‘Spider-Noir’s’ cancellation despite its acclaim offers a telling look at what Sony and Amazon are now trying to avoid repeating. The series opened strong on Prime Video’s daily charts and generated genuine buzz, but viewership reportedly declined quickly, and the show dropped out of the platform’s top rankings faster than comparable recent titles.

That combination of a substantial production budget and fading audience retention appears to have factored heavily into Amazon’s decision not to renew the series for a second season. With four new scripts now competing for a limited number of slots, Sony and Amazon seem intent on building in more competition and scrutiny before committing significant resources to another expensive series.

Whether that more selective approach actually produces a longer-lasting hit remains to be seen, but it does suggest both companies remain committed to Spider-Man television as a long-term strategy rather than treating ‘Spider-Noir’s’ cancellation as a sign to abandon the format. For now, fans will have to wait to learn which characters and concepts actually make the cut once Sony and Amazon settle on their next move.

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