The future looks pretty good for Sony’s Spider-Man-less universe. Venom turned out to be a bigger hit than expected, despite critics panning the film. So instead of going back to the drawing board to figure out what to do with these characters, the studio is pushing forward on some already announced titles. Morbius: The Living Vampire and Kraven the Hunter are among the two characters connected to Spider-Man lore who are getting their own films. And now, we are getting a few surprising updates on them.

For Morbius, that will be the next film to go into production. For Kraven the Hunter, well, we might see him go up against a certain webslinger. More on these reports, below.

A comedic animated Spider-Man film was first revealed after Sony’s private e-mails were leaked last year. These e-mails revealed that Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 and 22 Jump Street) would be involved in a creative capacity.

It would be months before an actual confirmation could be made, with the two playing coy during every interview opportunity. Sony is announcing that an Untitled Spider-Man animated film is in the works. Hit the jump for more.

As if the years he spent developing Ant-Man never happened, filmmaker Edgar Wright has moved on from the long-gestating Marvel Studios he was forced depart over the all-too-typical creative differences, and is piling on the future projects.

A few days ago it was revealed that he was hard at work on his next original feature Baby Driver for Working Title Films. If that wasn’t surprising and pleasant enough to hear, today Wright has signed on to direct an adaptation of the young adult novel Grasshopper Jungle for Sony Pictures.

A year ago Sony Pictures Entertainment had such high hopes for their rebooted Spider-Man franchise. Production on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was moving forth without a hitch and early footage from the blockbuster sequel screened at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con to an enthusiastic response. Back in December the studio was so certain that it was going to be the biggest movie of this summer, if not 2014, that they announced plans to exploit their ownership of the movie rights to the Spider-Man universe by developing spinoffs that would star Spidey villains Venom and the Sinister Six.

The plan originally was for Amazing Spider-Man 2 screenwriters Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner to collaborate on the Venom feature, while Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard would write and eventually be called upon to direct the Sinister Six movie. Then Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened to withering reviews from critics and less box office than the studio had initially projected. I haven’t seen the second movie in the rebooted series yet but the consensus is that the gluttony of villains, lack of attention paid to the main characters, and an anti-climatic ending that was to have paved the way for the spinoffs are what hurt its chances at the box office. A $706 million worldwide haul is hardly anything to sniff, but Sony was hoping that Amazing Spider-Man 2 would top out at a solid billion and change at the very least.

What would the 2013 version of San Diego Comic-Con be without an appearance by the Amazing Spider-Man, and an appearance by Spidey is just what we got Friday at the convention center. Director Marc Webb was on the panel to show off a bit of footage from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is still in production. Along for the ride with Webb was his leading actor, Andrew Garfield, who came out dressed in full Spider-Man gear. Dean DeHaan who plays Harry Osborne was also there, as well as producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach.

Emma Stone had a brief video message that was interrupted by Electro. Then, in a surprise moment, Jaime Foxx came out on stage to some huge applause. Garfield went on to play the beginning of the panel in character as Spider-Man, getting asked a bunch of hero-related questions. A few minutes in, Spider-Man got called away on urgent business, leaving room for Garfield’s proper entrance.