After five successful appearances, it appears that Spider Man will no longer be in the MCU.
Disney and Sony have failed to agree on a deal to keep Spider Man in the MCU. Disney initially had signed a five picture deal with Sony that would allow Marvel to produce Spider-Man movies in their universe, yet Deadline recently reported that the deal fell through due to financial obligations. Disney reportedly wanted to split the profit 50/50, which Sony would not cough up. This is a massive boost, from the initial 5% Marvel got in the previous contract.
But what does this mean for the MCU?
Currently, it looks like Spider-Man will not be involved in Phase 4. Along with this, if Sony want to continue to make Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland, it cannot feature any MCU characters. This is a major shock for Marvel and the fans, considering the immense performance of Spider Man: Far From Home at the Box Office.
Far From Home grossed over $1B and is the highest grossing Spider Man film along with Sony’s highest grossing film. With Disney only getting $50M of that cut, you can understand their disappointment with the deal.
Along with this, Spidey has become a fan favourite in the MCU, particularly due to his relationship to Iron Man. It’s hard to picture a Tom-Holland-Spidey-moment without the MCU. Especially considering that iteration of Spider-Man is directly linked to the MCU, with all of his technology being designed by the avengers forefather, Iron Man.
In Pascal we trust?
Despite Spider Man’s links to the MCU, Sony believe that the combined creative force of Tom Holland, Jon Watts and Amy Pascal will be able to move this franchise forward. This is a major gamble for Sony who have previously struggled with the character. The last non-marvel live action Spider-Man film produced by Amy Pascal was The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The film aimed to set up a Spider Man universe but ended up being a critical and financial disaster for Sony, which led them into loaning the character off to Marvel.
Photo Credit: Geeks of Color
Since the failure of The Amazing Spiderman 2, Pascal did have success with other Spider Man properties. Spider Man into the Spider-Verse, was a critical success with a decent box office return. Spider-Verse also became the first Superhero Film to win a best picture award, winning best animated feature.
Pascal also played a major role in producing 2018’s Venom. Despite a lacklustre critical reception, it raked in $850M. With its success, Sony have already announced its sequel, which is to be directed by Andy Serkis. Along with Venom, Pascal is also producing a Morbious movie set in the same universe. Looks like Pascall has her Spider-Man universe, and Holland may be forced into that universe.
How can Spider Man be introduced into this Sony Universe?
To be honest, your guess is as good as mine at the moment. With Holland’s Spider-Man aesthetic and essence being extremely MCU, it’s going to be hard to figure out how this will work. The multiverse was being introduced in the Spider-Verse and Avengers Endgame, so he could potentially fall through to another universe…one where he remembers nothing about his past?
Even if Sony does want to add him into their universe, it’s hard to see where he fits. Sony created that universe without Spider-Man, and tweaked Venom’s origin in the process. The arch-nemesis of Spider-Man with no connection to him, only to have him suddenly show up? Perhaps we will see them team up together to fight a common enemy.
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Ultimately, this could be one big bluff by Sony. With the success of Far From Home and the major cliff-hanger it left on the MCU, Disney and Sony would be crazy to let it be. It is going to be hard to see this as a win for Sony. It’s been their most critically successful and financial viable iteration or Spider-man. Along with being such a fan favourite, Sony will need something big to win the fans back.
Disney and Sony are yet to comment.
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