With recent rumors of an animated R-Rated Spider-Man movie being in production at Sony, I thought it could be a fun idea to turn to the comics and look for potential storylines and characters to see adapted in an R rated production, focusing mainly on ones out outside of the SPUMM (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Movies) canon. While our favorite Wall-Crawler isn’t particularly known for his ties to Horror, he’s not unfamiliar with the genre in the slightest. Many of his rogues gallery dip their toe into horror territory and there are several instances where writers threw Spidey into horror books.
Symbiotes
The original report about the film stated that the project could have something to do with Symbiotes. Being the main Symbiote people think about when the word is mentioned, Venom would be the most obvious choice for the film but because he’s been having his moment in the sun for a while now in his own more lighthearted and live action solo outings, I think it would be best to turn to other Symbiotes to fill that dark and sinister role we’re looking for. The obvious choice is Carnage. The murderous psychopath would fit right into a gorey R-rated murder flick. Sadly, seeing as the character already made his big screen debut just 3 years ago, I find it less likely to happen.
Could Sony be looking to adapt Knull, the evil symbiote god and instigator of the King In Black event? The fairly recent creation of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman has made quite the impact since his debut in their venom run after all. Tom Hardy has stated that V3NOM is gonna be “The Last Dance” for him as Eddie Brock so animating the King In Black event could be a great way to still get that huge piece of Venom’s lore to the big screen.
While there are dozens of other symbiotes to choose from to join a R Rated Spidey movie, I think turning to a corrupt version of the Wall-Crawler himself would work better. The original black suit saga is a classic, but I’m not sure it fits for a straight movie adaptation. What I could see adapted is Spider’s Shadow, a What If… reimagining of that original black suit saga written by Chip Zdarsky and illustrated by Pasqual Ferry. The 5 issue mini explores what could’ve happened if Peter kept the Symbiote and let loose.
There are issues with Sony adapting the mini though. The story loses bits of its horror influences in the second half of the story and much of the book involves the fantastic four, which I don’t see making the cut in a Sony Pictures production. That’s not a huge issue though, as I think replacing those parts of the narrative with other bits of Black Suit Spider-Man lore would work really well and could give filmmakers the opportunity to keep that horror aesthetic alive throughout the entire thing as well as hone-in-on a tighter and more focused group of Peter’s supporting cast.
While an R rated Venom movie makes a ton of sense, and I am excited to see what they’re cooking up, there are still many other ideas left to explore regarding an R Rated Spider-Man movie.
(Body) Horror in comics
Horror is not unfamiliar territory for the heroes inhabiting the Spider-Verse. While the main Spider-Men of the 616 might not run into bone chilling adventures everyday, there is certainly precedent for it. Recent books such as Spine-Tingling Spider-Man and Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man have put Peter in some straight up nightmarish places and Nick Spencer faced Peter with one of the gnarliest looking foes he’s ever had in the form of Kindred. Sony could adapt some of these newer books. They could even give Dream-Spider, the new spider-woman that made her debut in the aforementioned Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man, her first solo outing.
When we look past the Spider-People on Earth-616 and into the wider multiverse beyond, we find many more horrors to delve into. Patton Parnel, The Spider-Person of the distorted Earth-51412, is one of the more disturbed takes on the character. After being bitten by a radioactive spider like many before him, Patton became a monstrous hybrid of man and Spider, growing fangs, 4 more limbs and 6 more eyes, as well as a hunger for meat (the still living kind). The monster quickly came to his demise at the hands of Morlun but leaves every reader with a gross feeling after turning the last page of the only issue he appears in. There’s many more like Parnel though, other horror variants of the Wall-Crawler are the grotesque Zombified Spider-Man or Spiders-Man, the man made out of literal spiders that’ll send every arachnophobe into a coma.
Sony could also be looking at a more sinister take on the origin story we are all so very familiar with. A body horror take on the character could work very well. We’ve seen many instances of Body Horror in Spidey’s rich history. From the strangely iconic 6 arm story arc to the time he turned into a giant spider and died only to be reborn again, clawing his way out of the slimy spider corpse (man comics are weird), I think there should be enough imagery to recreate in animation.
Five Sinister Foes
Like I mentioned previously, there are many villains in Spider-Man’s rogue gallery that walk the horror line. Here are five of the potential candidates.
Mysterio: While writers and artists don’t always explore it, Mysterio’s powers could lend themselves very well to a horror picture. His ability to dive into Spidey’s fears and create horrid images to torment the Webhead makes him Spidey’s equivalent of Batman’s Scarecrow. Mysterio is a threat not just on a physical level but also on a psychological level and exploring that psychological warfare to its full extent could require an R Rating. I also believe Mysterio could deliver awesome visuals in the animated landscape and to weave in some horror elements would make this version of the character a distinctly unique version compared to the MCU’s adaptation.
Lizard: Even though the original version of the character isn’t all that horrible, Lizard has had some grotesque and visceral stories over the years. Besides being one of Spider-Man’s scariest looking enemies, some writers have also made him one of the most vicious beasts Peter has ever fought.
A particular story that comes to mind is 2010’s “Shed”. Written by Zeb Wells with some amazing interiors by Chris Bachalo, Shed tried to breathe new life into the character by exploring a darker version of Curt Conners’ split personality. The story is bleak and controversial at best but could be a really good stepping stone for a horror adaptation of the reptilian foe. The character lends himself well to a creepy atmospheric horror tale steeped in body horror.
Morbius: Yes Yes, I understand putting Morbius in this list is funny. The smash hit solo movie has tainted the character immensely. So much so that it would probably be beneficial for the character to take a hiatus for several decades before popping up in something again. But omitting the character from this list would be a crime. Dr Michael Morbius is a pastiche of Dracula, one of the, if not the, most well known horror character of all time, and to not acknowledge that he’d be the perfect fit for a horror movie based on Spider-Man comics would be a failure on my part as Spidey scholar.
I’m unsure if he could carry an entire movie, either as protagonist or antagonist, but he would surely fit into a B plot or be the secondary villain to another story. Who knows, maybe Sony could figure out a deal with Disney and get Blade in the film as well.
Goblins: It’s safe to say that the Green Goblin is in the upper echelon of Spidey’s rogue gallery, he might even be the greatest foe our favorite Webhead has ever faced. But he’s also one of the scariest. While I think the character doesn’t lend himself to a jumpscare filled gore fest, exploring the Goblin persona to its fullest potential could lead to a dark and ruthless story that could only be made with an R rating attached.
Green isn’t the only shade of Goblin in the Marvel Universe though. There are Red Goblins, Grey Goblins, Orange Goblins and even Gold Goblins floating around the skies of New York City. While I think each of these versions have potential for a darker Spider-Man story, the most monstrous of all of them is the Demogoblin. While it’s a tad bit difficult to explain just how Demogoblin came to be, all you really need to know is he’s an actual Demon from hell who looks like a quadruple sized Gremlin on steroids. It’s safe to call this iteration of the character the gnarliest looking goblin out there with his long slimy tongue, his scaly sickly flesh and red eyes that almost seem to glow. A story about faith and demons, starring a hover-gliding hellspawn, should definitely warrant an R rating.
Vermin: We’ve seen many grotesque creatures on this list so far, but none are as vile and disgusting as Vermin. The lesser known villain used to be a regular, albeit troubled, man but after being experimented on by Hydra scientists, turned into a strange rat-human hybrid.
Vermin lives in the sewers of New York and has a tendency to feast on live rats and the occasional human, as well as being able to command the rats surrounding him to do his bidding, making him one Marvel’s most sickening creations.
Combined with his Gollum-like personality and tragic backstory, it’s safe to say you couldn’t adapt Vermin without an R Rating. But he’s also a simple creature and I doubt you could create an interesting story that solely focuses on Vermin alone nor as a singular antagonist. Luckily there is still a place for Vermin to show up…
Kraven’s Last Hunt
Kraven’s Last Hunt, the seminal work by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck, is a lot of things. It’s the Kraven story everyone should read, it’s a classic, the art is out of this world and on top of all of that it’s also a horror book through and through. From the nightmarish dream sequences to the disgusting antics of the aforementioned Vermin and the more mature subject matter, the story is the perfect fit for an adult oriented adaptation. It’s contained enough where you don’t need to change much to the overall story to make it make sense for regular audiences and the nightmarish visuals throughout the book could make for some awesome animated sequences.
Seeing as the black suit plays a huge factor into this story (Albeit not the symbiote kind) this could still be a possibility for the movie that’s currently in development. The obvious problem is the upcoming Kraven solo film releasing in August. Would Sony start developing a movie that largely focuses on Kraven when they’re in the middle of releasing an entire movie about the character? Probably not. But if Sony has taught me anything over the years is that nothing is too crazy for them.
Blood, Broken Bones and Bullet Holes
Obviously it’s not just horror that lends itself well to R rated projects. The action genre is one that thrives when paired with an R Rating. But while our regular Spider-Men certainly are action heroes, I wouldn’t say they’d fit a blood soaked action flick like Kill Bill or John Wick. Luckily there is a Spider-hero that can fit that role; Spider-Man Noir.
Spider-Man Noir made his debut in 2008 with his own mini-series and immediately became one of the darkest versions of Spider-Man ever created. While his animated counterpart might not seem it, the Peter Parker of Earth-90214 is a gnarly character. He’s a gun toting spider who has no issue kicking someone to a pulp to get justice and one that frequently deals with the seedy underbelly of 1930’s New York. Noir finds himself into much more bleak and gory trouble than our regular Spider-Heroes do. His comics are filled with blood, broken bones and bullet holes. The Noir universe is even home to one of the most depraved versions of any Spider-Man foe ever, Vulture, who makes 616 vulture look like a saint. The Noir counterpart is a circus freak turned Osborn goon who isn’t just a visceral murderer, he’s also a cannibal!
Variety revealed that Sony was actively developing a Noir show in February of last year, could the production have shifted in the last 12 months to an animated format? Possibly, it wouldn’t be the first time a show has been reworked into a movie and with Lord and Miller involved as producers, it wouldn’t be crazy to assume the show shifted from live action to animation as well, possibly to continue the Spider-Verse franchise past Beyond.
I’d love to see the Noir universe adapted further in animation, especially if they’re willing to go the extra mile and give it an R rating. Who knows, maybe they could even get Cage back to reprise the role in a fresh new way.
It’s safe to say there are many ways to go about making an R rated animated Spider-Man movie, and if the first outing is a success, I’m sure we’ll see many more bloody and scary projects along the way. With the R rated Live action Kraven releasing this summer, I’m sure Sony is cautiously waiting to see how audiences react to blood and guts in their Spider-Man adjacent movies.
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