Morbin' time to continue as Sony Pictures CEO promises reboots

Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman explains why we should expect a new Morbius movie before the appearance of The Statue of Liberty in the next Spider-Man.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  February 24, 2026 | 4:16pm
Screenshot: Sony
Film News Spider-Man
Morbin' time to continue as Sony Pictures CEO promises reboots

After the release of Morbius, the re-release of Morbius, and Madame Web, it was pretty much a given that Sony was simply burning through its remaining non-Venom-related stock of Spider-Man characters while they still could. The Tom Hardy-led Venom movies generated profits, while Morbius and Madame Web generated memes. Memes might spark morbid curiosity on streaming, but it’s not going to secure a sequel, especially once audiences realize these off-brand Marvel movies had no connection to the mainline MCU. The series’ final release, Kraven The Hunter, made $61 million worldwide. Even the ruthlessly-mocked Pepsi commercial that is Madame Web squeaked to $100 million. 

Nevertheless, recognizable IP is recognizable IP, and Sony’s going to keep leveraging your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’s friends for as long as it can. Last week, an animated Venom was announced to satisfy the throngs of web-heads still waiting for Beyond The Spider-Verse, and today, on the latest installment of The Town podcast, Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman assured listeners that reboots of these characters were in development. Asked by host Matt Belloni if the larger Spider-Verse, not the animated Spider-Verse, was dead, Rothman responded, “No.” When asked whether he would “go back to those [characters] at some point,” Rothman responded, “Yes.” Belloni confirms with Rothman that it will be a “fresh reboot with new people.” 

But while we should expect more Morbin’ time in the future, we shouldn’t expect to hear Spider-Man speak those majestic words: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Sadly, the Chinese government won’t hear of it. Complaining that Spider-Man: No Way Home only made $1.9 billion, Rothman says that the film fell short of $2 billion due to a lack of Chinese distribution, which Sony couldn’t secure because the studio refused to cut out the Statue of Liberty. Rothman recalls the negotiations: “They said, ‘No problem. Just cut out the Statue of Liberty.'” While he would’ve been happy to remove the country’s most enduring symbol of openness to immigrants, the last 20 minutes of No Way Home are set at the Statue of Liberty. “Yeah, there was that, and also I really didn’t look forward to sitting in front of Congress and telling them why I cut the Statue of Liberty out at the request of the Chinese Communist Party.” 

They won’t be making that mistake again, “coincidentally.” While we may see Morbius and Madame Web again, it sounds like the Statue of Liberty will no longer be visible in Spider-Man’s New York City skyline. “I’m going to make a prediction,” Belloni said, “there’s no Statue of Liberty in the new Spider-Man.” 

“Let me think about that,” Rothman responds, “Actually, coincidentally, that’s true. Total coincidence.” 

Of course, the Spider-Man movies have long been removing New York City icons. After the 9/11 attacks, Sony pulled the teaser trailer for 2002’s Spider-Man, which prominently featured the World Trade Center, from circulation. The Twin Towers were (almost) entirely removed from the finished film as well. But given how hostile the country now is to immigrants, we don’t expect anyone to make much hay about it, especially with the oncoming war over who will be cast as the next Dr. Michael Morbius in our future.

 
Join the discussion...
Keep scrolling for more great stories.