10 Worst Moments In Sony's Spider-Man Universe Now That It's Dead

As Sony's Spider-Man Universe has officially ended, it can be definitively said which are the franchise's all-time worst moments. Starting in 2017 with Venom, the movies of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe introduced multiple characters from the hero’s stories into live-action, while never actually featuring Spider-Man himself. Despite considerable difficulties in finding consistent success, the franchise saw the release of six movies over a seven-year span, producing box office results that can only be described as remarkably unpredictable.

What exactly went wrong with Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is subject to some debate, but the franchise certainly didn’t achieve the heights of success of other Marvel movie franchises. As its movies often lacked general quality in their writing or presentation, the SSU developed a reputation for featuring moments that were laughable or cringe-inducing. With that in mind, here are the 10 worst moments of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, now that it’s officially dead.

10 The Last Dance’s Knull Set-Up

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

Though on the surface it seems like an exciting set-up for an interesting future, the post-credits scene of Venom: The Last Dance is actually one of the SSU’s worst moments. After his Xenophages are defeated and his invasion of Earth foiled, The Last Dance’s mid-credits scene shows Knull vowing revenge. The scene also contained an allusion to the “King in Black”, hinting at a future adaptation of the comics storyline of the same name.

It’s actually the death of the SSU that retroactively makes this one of the franchise’s worst moments. The tease itself has genuine promise, as Knull is one of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful villains, but it’s now destined to go nowhere. The death of the SSU means that any future for Knull lies elsewhere, most likely in the MCU, and that Sony’s ambitious tease was doomed to go unfulfilled within their own franchise.

9 Post-Credits Sinister Six Tease

Morbius (2022)

Another SSU tease destined to go unfulfilled came in Morbius’ post-credits scene, although it’s not just the franchise’s demise that makes the moment so poor. The scene shows the appearance of Michael Keaton’s Vulture in the SSU, crossing over from the MCU after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The scene teases a team-up between Morbius and Vulture, and hints at an adaptation of the Sinister Six somewhere down the track.

Not only is the tease now a narrative dead-end, but there are conceptual issues with the moment. The scene offers very little by way of context for how Vulture crossed over, and considering the events of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, there are a number of plot holes that arise as a result. As such, Morbius’ post-credits scene is far more confusing than it is entertaining, especially as its tease is now entirely redundant.

8 Venom 2’s MCU Crossover Tease

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Another of the SSU’s worst moments arises as the result of a tease doomed to go nowhere, with the nature of the tease making it all the more disappointing. The end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage saw a Multiverse tease in which Venom and Eddie Brock were transported to another universe. While there, they see a new report about the identity of the MCU’s Spider-Man being revealed, and Venom recognizes him.

The moment seems to set up a meeting between Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Tom Hardy’s Venom in the MCU, but this was later proved not to be the case. In fact, the tease simply led to another post-credits scene in which Eddie and Venom find themselves transported to a bar in the MCU, only to be zapped back to their own universe without meeting Spider-Man. The disappointing culmination of the tease makes the Spider-Man set-up feel even more frustrating in hindsight.

7 The Incomprehensible CGI Battle

Morbius (2022)

Morbius might have been one of the SSU’s moderate financial successes, but that wasn’t an indicator of its quality. In fact, one of the worst moments in the entire SSU comes at the ending of Morbius, with the movie’s climactic fight scene proving to be an utterly terrible spectacle. The scene sees Morbius face off against his childhood best friend Milo, with the pair each employing their vampiric abilities against one another against the backdrop of the New York skyline.

Though the battle sounds promising on paper, the reality of its execution was incredibly poor. Morbius’ climactic scene is little more than a mess of CGI, and is essentially incomprehensible as a result. With both characters transformed first into their CGI-laden vampire forms and then partly into dark swirling clouds for the battle, it’s all but impossible to truly follow the action, making the scene one of the SSU’s worst.

6 Peter Parker’s Birth

Madame Web (2024)

Madame Web is almost certainly the strangest movie of the SSU, as it follows neither a Spider-Man villain nor the hero himself. However, it is the only movie to directly feature Peter Parker, albeit in the most bizarre way possible. One of the movie’s subplots revolves around Peter’s mother, Mary, being pregnant with the future hero, with a late development seeing her give birth toward the end of Madame Web.

Peter Parker’s birth is the culmination of multiple references and teases throughout the movie, nodding to the audience about his identity. The not-so-subtle mentions of baby Peter are bad enough, but the scene in which he’s born and appears as an infant is beyond strange, and plays no real part in the movie’s story. It came off as little more than a way to justify Madame Web’s place in the SSU, and served as the worst possible Spider-Man debut that the franchise could have mustered.

5 The Lack Of Spider-Women

Madame Web (2024)

When it was announced that the cast of Madame Web would feature Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazón, and Mattie Franklin, it quickly became one of the SSU’s most-anticipated movies. Trailers of the movie showcased the three Spider-Women, furthering the excitement around their live-action debut. However, when the movie was released, and the full extent of their inclusion was revealed, the three Spider-Women's appearances became one of the worst moments in an already disappointing movie.

Despite hinting that the movie would feature the origins of the three Spider-Women, it did not. Instead, the three characters in the movie possess no abilities at all, and the only time they’re shown as the heroes is in brief visions of the future. The most substantial sequence in which the three Spider-Women appear is still far too short, and the false promise of their role in Madame Web made it one of the SSU’s most disappointing moments.

4 Cassie Gets Injured

Madame Web (2024)

As one of the SSU’s worst movies, Madame Web is unsurprisingly filled with terrible moments. However, considering it serves as an origin story for its titular character, the moment in which Cassie finally begins to become the figure she is known as in the comics is especially questionable. The film’s climactic battle between Cassie and Ezekiel Sims is incredibly underwhelming, and ends with Cassie being paralyzed and blinded by a stray firework.

As the movie had established that Cassie was born with a degenerative illness, the final twist being that her full transformation came as the result of a firework blast to the face was perhaps the most bizarre way to end her story. Madame Web already had a logical set-up for her comic-accurate ending, though the firework scene served as a disappointing and unnecessary twist. All things considered, it seemed inappropriately silly and anti-climactic for such a defining moment for the character.

3 Kraven’s Weird Spider-Man Tease

Kraven The Hunter (2024)

As the final nail in the coffin of the SSU, Kraven the Hunter’s failure both at the box office and with critics ended things for the franchise in the worst way. Though Spider-Man served as the namesake for the franchise, he did not make a full appearance in the SSU, and Kraven the Hunter seemed to be the last chance to establish the hero. In fact, the manner in which the movie hinted at Spider-Man's role in the villain’s future ended up being one of its worst moments.

Kraven the Hunter’s big Spider-Man tease came in a scene in which the villain was explained to have arachnophobia. As the SSU’s final chance to reference or feature Spider-Man, Kraven the Hunter opted to do so in the weakest way imaginable, leaving it to serve as an especially terrible moment in the franchise.

2 Milo’s Dance Scene

Morbius (2022)

Morbius featured several moments that were considered laughable, with many becoming memes or being used to otherwise ridicule the movie. Even among those, however, one stands out as particularly strange within the wider context of the movie. The scene in question sees Milo, freshly transformed by Morbius’ blood, appreciating his new vitality with an impromptu solo shirtless dance number.

The moment is utterly bizarre and entirely out of place, and it’s almost painful to watch as a result. Morbius’ dark and edgy tone was ridiculed thoroughly in its own right, and Milo’s dancing sits in such stark contrast to the rest of the movie that it’s singularly jarring. It’s one of the most cringe-inducing moments in a movie that is positively packed with poorly written exchanges, and the tonal dissonance makes it one of the SSU’s worst ever moments.

1 Madame Web’s Final Line

Madame Web (2024)

Madame Web’s ending in particular is perhaps the worst moment in the franchise. After transforming into a roughly comic-accurate version of herself in the most unexpected manner, Cassie is seen taking care of the three young Spider-Women. The film’s final monologue has Cassie ruminate on her visions of their heroics, ending with the line: “the best thing about the future is that it hasn’t happened yet.”

As one of Marvel’s most powerful clairvoyants, Madame Web typically could have offered any number of wise or insightful remarks. Instead, the movie ends with her delivering one of the most obvious and pointless statements imaginable, punctuating the film with a soundbite that serves as its death knell. As the crowning jewel of the worst movie in the franchise, Madame Web’s final line is the worst moment in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.