Sony is really banking on Venom doing well this October as they have just recently revealed their official name for the Marvel Cinematic Universe they are building.
According to a piece by Variety, Sony has named their Marvel franchise, the SUMC, or “Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.” Along with this announcement, Sanford Panitch, president of Columbia Pictures, told Variety that Sony is, “focused on being faithful to the comics.”
As far as movies that are being developed under this new branding, Sony has stated the studio has Spider-Man: Far From Home, Venom, Morbius The Living Vampire, Black Cat, Silver Sable, Kraven the Hunter, and Jackpot all currently planned or in production at this point.
Sony’s new cinematic universe title makes sense but is obviously an awkward mouthful. It’s hard seeing SUMC as something that the public latches onto, so only time will tell how this is accepted. A lot of Sony’s success will fall on how well Venom is received, and at this point, it seems Venom may pull a victory out of its hat. The movie is expected to make $50-$80 million its opening weekend which will instantly make it the top earner ever for the month of October.
However, Venom is still without a rating a month out, as Sony flip-flops back and forth over whether the film should be PG-13 or R. Of course, a PG-13-rating will give the film more exposure to younger viewers, but an R-rating will allow the studio to be more in line with the violent comics Venom is based on. Sony has also stated that they want to push the boundaries of what is allowed for PG-13, so it is all up in the air at this point.
There is also the factor that a $50 million-$80 million opening weekend would be better stomached for an R-rated movie as opposed to a PG-13-rated movie. Logan and both Deadpool movies have proved the market is there for more mature takes on characters that are closer in line to their comic counterparts. On the other hand, Sony also wants to be able to segue Spider-Man seamlessly into their universe at points and that may be difficult with more R-rated characters.
What do you think of Sony’s official name for their Marvel Universe? Do you think Sony should keep Venom rated R? Sound off in the comments below!
