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Recent changes to Sony's Marvel plans include splitting the team-up movie Silver & Black into two movies (one about Black Cat, and one about Silver Sable), targeting a played by Jared Leto), Kraven the Hunter, Silk, Jackpot, and Nightwatch. One character who isn't being included in those plans, however, is Spider-Man, since Sony's current deal with Marvel Studios means that Spidey is tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But with a bridge already established between the two studios, could other Sony-owned Marvel characters soon be ing Spidey?

• This Page: Rumors Of Sony Planning To Sell Sony Pictures
• Page 2: How Sony's Marvel Plans Could Usher In a Disney Deal

Sony Has Been Rumored to be Considering Sale Recently

Rumors of Sony planning to sell Sony Pictures are nothing new. In December 2016, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai - who had been a strong proponent of the company's movie and TV properties - would be stepping down, and would be replaced by CFO Kenichiro Yoshida. Yoshida has been described as a numbers guy who is "not too keen on the entertainment business," so his appointment led to speculation that Sony Entertainment - the branch that manages Sony's music, TV and film properties - could be put up for sale, in part or in whole.

On the face of it, the fact that Sony Pictures is ramping up plans for a vast array of Marvel movies might indicate that the motion picture division won't be up for sale any time soon, and that Sony is instead trying in earnest to build its own dependable money-making franchise. Certainly if Venom proves to be as successful as Iron Man was in establishing a comic book movie universe, Sony could well decide that its Marvel movie rights are more valuable where they are, rather than as part of a sale package to a company like Disney or Comcast.

On the other hand, Sony already has an existing deal with Marvel, and those 900 Marvel Comics characters have a built-in appeal for Disney, who already own the movie rights to most of the Marvel universe and will soon acquire the Fantastic Four and X-Men as well. A Disney-Sony deal would complete Disney's Marvel collection and give the studio free reign to bring popular characters like Venom into the MCU. So, is Sony really making plans for a separate Marvel movie universe, or is it really all part of a plan to up the perceived value of Sony Pictures in anticipation of a sale?

Page 2: How Sony's Marvel Plans Could Usher In a Disney Deal

Venom's PG-13 Rating is Sale Friendly

A Venom movie has been in the works for many years, with the project actually predating Spider-Man's move to the MCU. When the current iteration of the movie was finally locked in for production in 2017, it was reportedly being envisioned as an Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Putting these various comments together - along with hints from both Pascal and Feige that Venom could one day go toe-to-toe with Tom Holland's Spider-Man - it seems as though Sony is trying to create a version of the character that was hypothetically standalone, but could also potentially be folded into the MCU without needing a reboot or reams of exposition. Venom shifting from an R-rating to a much more MCU-friendly PG-13 is indicative of that, and the recent trailers - despite taglines like "the world has enough superheroes" - definitely present the movie as a fairly traditional superhero origin story. Notably, the Tom Hardy's version of Eddie Brock seems to be actively trying to hold back Venom's worst instincts, unlike the comic book version of the character, who is cheerfully complicit in the violence. From what we've seen so far, this Venom could conceivably be integrated into the MCU as a more malevolent version of the Hulk.

Related: Venom & Sony's Spider-Man Universe Is (& Isn't) In The MCU

Sony's Big Marvel Plans Could Be Disney Bait

If Sony is deg its Marvel universe around an eventual sale to Disney, it probably won't happen in the immediate future. Speaking to James Bond, and one big franchise movie every 2-4 years just isn't enough.

With Yoshida now in place as CEO and Sony rumored to be quietly open to pitches, Disney could well turn its attention to acquiring the rest of the Marvel Comics characters once the deal with Fox is finalized (possibly by summer 2019). Bloomberg estimates that such an offer could feasibly be made at around 3.9 times Sony Pictures' revenue, or $35 billion. And if Sony is looking to sell its movie division, then making big plans for a Marvel franchise is a smart way to drive up the asking price.

Although logically you might expect Sony to relax development in the lead-up to a sale - since movies being planned for four or five years in the future might end up being produced by a completely different studio - in actuality the plans for Black Cat, Silver Sable, Kraven the Hunter, Morbius, Silk, Jackpot and Nightwatch movies could be a way of making Sony's Marvel franchise look as big as possible (picture a pigeon puffing up its chest). It's effectively a showcase of Sony's most high-value Marvel characters and what they could become - starting with a conveniently PG-13 Venom who exists in the "same reality" as Spider-Man.

Whether or not Disney is actually interested in taking the bait is another matter, of course. In addition to the massive stable of characters already under the Marvel Studios banner, Disney is about to acquire two more of the most famous Marvel teams - X-Men and Fantastic Four - with the X-Men alone bringing with them a huge number of characters (including established solo movie stars like Wolverine and Deadpool). Disney already has a number of successful ongoing Marvel sub-franchises, with many more characters still on the bench, and the studio can only release so many superhero movies every year. Moreover, Disney may not be ready to make another big purchase so soon after the $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox. If Sony's Marvel plans are a roundabout way of flirting, don't be surprised if they strike out... for now.

More: How The Sony Spider-Verse Is Run Differently To The MCU