This Rumored Sony and Marvel Studios Crossover Isn't What's Best for Either Brand (2024)

There are many rumors about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially given the less than successful entries released in the early 2020s. Likewise, the villainous Kang the Conqueror hasn't gotten over with fans in terms of popularity, and that's without addressing the legal issues surrounding the actor who played him. A supposed plan for the character would involve teaming him up with a completely unrelated Marvel figure, but this concept may yield disastrous results instead.

According to rumors, Marvel Studios has, or at least considered plans for Kang to team up with the Miguel O'Hara (aka Spider-Man 2099), who was seen in the animated movie Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This bizarre idea has a lot of holes in it, to the point where many fans might question how logical it could be. In the end, the plan for Kang and the animated Spider-Man 2099 to work together would only further damage the MCU while also dragging down a beloved 1990s icon.

First seen in full force in the 2023 movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Kang was played by now controversial actor Jonathan Majors. Before the movie came out, an alternate universe incarnation appeared in the first season of the Disney+ TV series Loki, with the show's second season introducing another variant. Sadly, the true Kang seen in the third Ant-Man wasn't impressive at all, and it spoke to a key issue with making him the "new Thanos." While Thanos wasn't as mainstream or as well known as the Green Goblin, Magneto or even Red Skull before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made him a household name, he was still a major threat in the comic books.

Having Thanos be the overarching threat made a lot of sense, especially since the various Infinity storylines from the source material were adapted. On the other hand, Kang has never been a particularly impressive or interesting villain, even in the comics, and he's more of a punching bag for the Avengers than a fan-favorite foe. His only real claims to fame were the "Kang Dynasty" storyline from Kurt Busiek's Avengers run, as well as "Time Runs Out." Beyond that, he has little in the way of great stories or depth, and he's equally lacking in presence or gravitas. His only real threat is that he travels in time or that there's an infinite number of his variants, which isn't exactly a compelling narrative concept.

Given how unsuccessful and disliked Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was, not to mention the legal troubles of Jonathan Majors, skipping past Kang instead of recasting him is for the best. The version that the MCU seemed to be building toward wasn't interesting or at least an improvement over the comics. Likewise, most audiences now see him as merely "the guy beaten by ants" and not the next major villain in the Thanos tradition. Replacing Kang with a more popular villain like Doctor Doom would probably be for the best at this point, but a supposed plan to extend his villainy isn't going to improve his status.

Spider-Man 2099 Deserves Better Than to be Cemented as a Villain

Spider-Man 2099 aka Miguel O'Hara, was one of the first alternate Spider-Men. Hailing from the alternate future of 2099, he was an employee of the malevolent corporation Alchemax. Unfortunately for him, his usefulness was eventually seen as running thin, and he was subjected to a tampered genetic test before it was ready. This rewrote this DNA and combined it with a spider's in order to recreate the powers of the original Spider-Man. Using his newfound powers to help the downtrodden in his cyberpunk society, he was the premiere hero of the 2099 comic books. Sadly, these elements weren't used in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse animated movie, which was the character's biggest push outside the comics.

In Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man 2099 was the movie's antagonist, as he blamed Miles Morals for the issues with the "Spider-Verse" that were causing chronal displacement. Though cast in a somewhat tragic light, he was ultimately the villain of the film, regardless of how much his arguments made sense. With the movie's box office success, it's now the biggest and most prominent use of Spider-Man 2099 in outside media. Unfortunately, this means that many viewers' exposure to him is as a gruff anti-villain that has little in common with his comic book counterpart. This is also despite the numerous fantastic Spider-Man 2099 comic books by legendary writer Peter David, which might never be adapted due to this prevailing characterization.

Having this version of Miguel be tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe would only further solidify this as his "true" portrayal in the eyes of the general audience. It would be a major waste of the character, who's one of the few legacy characters who's never had much in the way of controversy. Given all the good qualities Miguel possesses in the comics that could easily win over the general audience, it really is a shame that these were ignored in favor of making him a villain. Hopefully, the MCU doesn't make him a villain twice over, but the concept is hard to visualize, anyway.

A Spider-Verse/Kang Crossover Doesn't Work at a Conceptual Level

On a basic level, the idea of crossing the animated Spider-Verse with the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe is conceptually bad. There's no way that the concept would look good on the big screen and be taken seriously, regardless of how accepting some fans are. In fact, the CGI, mocap and design for M.O.D.O.K. in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was seen as laughable and a bad example of the uncanny valley in design. That's without even taking into account that, for many MCU fans, the idea of mixing animation and live-action in some strange Roger Rabbit-style affair would be a bridge too far.

Much of the remaining goodwill behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be instantly eradicated, as it's simply not an idea that mainstream audiences would take seriously. There's also no reason for Spider-Man 2099 to team up with Kang. It could logically be tied to both of them now having connections to the multiverse in their movie incarnations, but even this is thin justification. After all, the villainous Kang isn't exactly mad about the abuse of the multiverse, and that characterization, ironically, might have made him interesting and similar to Thanos.

Kang is merely a power-hungry would-be tyrant who was defeated by perhaps the weakest Avenger of the MCU. On top of that, despite the MCU currently being in the "Multiverse Saga," the concept has only played a part in a few projects. Thus, using it to unite animation and live-action would be more contrived than it already seems. Additionally, Oscar Isaac, the actor who voices Miguel in the animated films, plays Moon Knight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's also arguably too old to portray Miguel in live-action, meaning that he'd have to be recast for the MCU crossover, thus ruining the whole point of the mixture.

Hopefully, this plan has been abandoned entirely, with Sony (which holds the cinematic rights to Spider-Man and made the Spider-Verse movies) supposedly rejecting the idea. The only Sony Spider-Man characters that will work in an MCU project would be the two previous live-action Spider-Men (who already appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home) or perhaps the Tom Hardy version of Eddie Brock/Venom. While Across the Spider-Verse had its own live-action cameo from a Marvel character, this was a brief scene that was more played for laughs than anything else. If Marvel Studios doesn't want a less intentional laugh track to follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe, keeping animation and live-action separate is a must.

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  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

  Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

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  Marvel Cinematic Universe

  Created by Marvel Studios, the Marvel Cinematic Universe follows heroes across the galaxy and across realities as they defend the universe from evil.