It’s a fair bet that the Disney branch of Marvel is never going to make an R-Rated movie as part of the MCU, but now that FOX has proven it can be profitable, Sony wants a piece of the action. Sony is in the best position they could ever hope to be in when it comes to Marvel movies right now. They are partnered with Marvel Studios on Spider-Man: Homecoming, which pretty much guarantees fans will be willing to give the spiderverse a stronger look than if it was just another movie that “wasn’t as good” as Marvel’s other movies. then, they’ve got the rights to 900 other characters for film. Last week they announced that they have hired the writer from Thor: Ragnarok to write their all-female Spidey Spin-off, featuring Silver Sable and Black Cat. Now, they are making a pretty big announcement about their stand alone Venom movie. The film, which was written by ‘Alien: Covenant’ writer Dante Harper is heading for an R-rating. Why you might ask? I’d be the answer can be summed up in the words “Logan” and “Deadpool.”
Fox has already proven that there’s money to be made on the R-rated side of comic book movies, so it would be foolish for them to not cash in on it themselves. That said, it will be interesting to see if they are allowed to use Spider-Man in the film at all, or if this will preclude Venom from playing a major role in future Spider-Man films.
The best way I can see this happening is if they Skip the Eddie Brock stuff and go straight to Agent Venom. It gives them a string that ties them back to Spider-Man and Shield. It also gives them a chance to go heavy on the struggle of Flash Thompson coming back as an injured war vet and having to tame the darkness of the symbiote (sometimes unsuccessfully).