It has been quite the day for Marvel and Spider-Man fans. Earlier today Deadline reported that it was the end of the line for negotiations between Disney and Sony about Spider-Man. Because of this, Marvel Studios and its president Kevin Feige would no longer be involved in future Spider-Man films. This news comes after the most recent Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Far From Home became the highest-grossing film of all time for Sony.
The dispute reportedly came down to money. Currently, Marvel Studios receives a small percentage of Spider-Man revenues in exchange for the character appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films like Avengers: Endgame. It is believed that moving forward Disney wanted to split profits 50/50 moving forward and Sony walked away from this suggestion without a counteroffer.
With two more movies currently expected to be released with Tom Holland in the title role along with director Jon Watts returning, the future appears to be bright for the character. On top of this, Sony has been developing sequels to Venom and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Both of these movies were quite successful. It is rumored that Disney and Marvel wanted to help expand these stories and build a stronger crossover. However, the price for this help apparently was too much for Sony and that led to the earlier reports. The suggestion being that Sony felt it could succeed on its own because it has a recipe for success, even without Marvel Studios and Feige.
Immediately following this report the internet became a flurry of activity and speculation as Marvel and Spider-Man fans lamented the end of this very successful partnership between Marvel Studios with Kevin Feige and Sony.
As the day continued on, io9 reached out to Sony for comment. Sony responded to io9 saying that it was their belief that “this dispute is simply over a producer credit and negotiations are ongoing.” The sony representative also shared that Feige had contributed to other movies surrounding Spider-Man without producer credit.
So where does that leave the future of Spider-Man? Currently, it appears that there is some level of possibility for negotiations to move forward. While io9 did reach out to Marvel and Disney for comment, they have not received a statement as of yet. So, for now, it appears that Sony is the only company going on the record. Sony currently says that negotiations are continuing so it appears that is what is happening.
If negotiations do continue and are successful, this would be a fantastic time for Marvel fans with most of the big players all being in the same Marvel Cinematic Universe since Disney also brought the X-Men and Fantastic Four back into the Marvel Studios fold with its purchase of 21st Century Fox. Only time will tell if all these Marvel studios end up working together or if Spider-Man ends up going his own way.
What do you think about the events of the day? Will Spider-Man still be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward or will he go back to a Sony-centric one? What do you really think is going on with negotiations? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
