MarvelBlog News for December 29th, 2024

This week: Sony sends out the spin doctors while Marvel contemplates animation plans.

Also, we’ll close the year with a couple of tantalizing casting reports in the final MarvelBlog News of 2024.

The Pinocchio Problem

Image: Image Comics

Tony Vinciquerra, the CEO of Sony Pictures, performed a wide-ranging interview this week.

While reading Vinciquerra’s thoughts, I found myself thinking about Pinocchio a lot.

Image: Disney

You know the story of Pinocchio. Every time the wooden puppet lies, his nose grows.

While reading his thoughts, I almost subconsciously envisioned Vinciquerra’s nose growing to roughly the same size as Victor Wembayama’s body.

Image: Sports Illustrated

After a moment, I had a scarier thought. What if the CEO of Sony Pictures meant every word he said?

Wouldn’t it explain a lot if the person calling the shots at Sony were absolutely delusional with their evaluations?

Source: Sony Pictures/ Marvel

You may think I’m being ridiculous, but you can read the (paywalled) article here.

After doing so, you’ll totally understand my feelings here. I’ve been covering Hollywood since the 1990s.

Photo: Twitter/MoviesMatrix

This was among the most preposterous interviews I can ever recall…and most of the others came down to substance abuse.

Sony’s CEO was by all accounts clean and sober when he sat down to discuss the struggles of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the conversation is that Vinciquerra had no reason to lie.

The executive is 70 years old and will retire from the job next week. So, he could be honest here.

Image: Sony

That fact leads me to wonder whether this person honestly believes that the spinoff Spider-Man movies were good.

You’re likely thinking that couldn’t possibly be true. Well, let’s talk about what Vinciquerra talked about in the interview.

He Said WHAT???

Source: Marvel Comics

In describing Sony’s 2024, Vinciquerra states: “We’ve had mostly very, very good results.”

As a reminder, Sony released Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter in 2024.

Source: Marvel/ Sony Pictures

The studio did have a couple of notable successes such as the recently controversial It Ends with Us and Bad Boys: Ride Or Die.

Meanwhile, the latest attempted Ghostbusters reboot, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was a box office disappointment.

Photo: Sony

Sony’s only major non-comic book release of note in calendar 2024 was The Garfield Movie, a modest box office hit.

So, “very, very good results” is a more optimistic interpretation than anyone should have, especially the person in charge.

Source: @dakotajohnson

Somehow, that’s the most reasonable take Vinciquerra makes during the rest of the interview.

The executive brushes aside any and all criticism of the laughable Madame Web by stating the following:

Source: Marvel/ Lia Toby/ Getty Images

“Madame Web underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it. It was not a bad film, and it did great on Netflix.

“For some reason, the press decided that they didn’t want us making these films out of Kraven and Madame Web, and the critics just destroyed them.

Photo: Sony Pictures

“They also did it with Venom, but the audience loved Venom and made Venom a massive hit.

“These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason.”

Image: Image Comics

I apologize if you were drinking anything when you read that and understandably did a spit-take.

There’s unfounded, there’s delusion, and then there’s this bit of nonsense.

Source: Marvel Studios/ Sony Pictures

Someone at Sony is trying to blame THE MEDIA for the fact that critics and audiences alike hated Madame Web.

More Hilarity

Photo: Collider

The CEO also lumps Kraven the Hunter into this conversation…but not before sprinkling in a small dose of reality.

“My last film launch, (Kraven the Hunter), is probably the worst launch we had in seven and a half years.

Photo: Digital Spy/Marvel Comics

“So, that didn’t work out very well, which I still don’t understand, because the film is not a bad film.”

Okay, he was honest right up until he wasn’t. Kraven very much was a bad movie and possibly the worst of the Morbius/Madame Web/Kraven trifecta.

Source: Sony/ Marvel

And folks, nothing should be worse than Morbius or Madame Web.

Seriously, bartender, this guy’s had enough. Oh wait, I said he was clean and sober, didn’t I?

Morbius (Jared Leto) in Columbia Pictures’ MORBIUS.

Later in the interview, Vinciquerra acknowledged the unmistakable truth here:

“I do think we need to rethink it, just because it’s snake-bitten. If we put another one out, it’s going to get destroyed, no matter how good or bad it is.”

Sony Pictures

Now, this particular leader is leaving Sony. So, it’s possible that his replacement will feel otherwise.

But I’d like to believe that the next CEO of Sony Pictures has a better understanding of what a bad movie is. I mean, yikes!

Marvel Miscellany

Photo: Marvel

The other big story this week is that Marvel’s What If…? season three ends tonight with the series finale.

During the publicity phase of the show’s release, Marvel’s Brad Winderbaum appeared on the Behind the Geeks podcast.

You can watch the whole thing, but the primary takeaway is that Marvel is considering an animated feature film. Yes, please!

Photo: NY Post

In other exciting Marvel news, Harrison Ford is about to become the Red Hulk. Here’s an EW article explaining how that’s possible.

Circling back to the Sony side of Marvel, here’s Amy Pascal discussing the hot new rumor:

On the one hand, I’d love to see Anya Taylor-Joy as Black Cat. On the other hand, I’m terrified of anything Sony does right now.

Source: Marvel

Speaking of which, the disappointing conclusion to the Venom series, Venom: The Last Dance, debuts on streaming on January 21^st.

Finally, the Marvel casting rumor we’re following is whether Sadie Sink will make her debut in the MCU as an iconic Mutant.

Photo: Lionsgate

Ana de Armas is also under consideration for a role in Avengers: Doomsday, and Scarlett Johansson may be coming back soon.

The next year of Marvel news is shaping up to be even more exciting than in 2025!

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Featured image: Marvel