Cyrus Langhorne
It's officially a wrap for Spider-Man. Sony Pictures has decided to pull back from having the iconic superhero appear in future Marvel films.
According to reports, the sudden decision stems from failed negotiations between Sony and Marvel Studios parent company Disney.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige won’t produce any further Spider-Man films because of an inability by Disney and Sony Pictures to reach new terms that would have given the former a co-financing stake going forward. A dispute that has taken place over the past few months at the top of Disney and Sony has essentially nixed Feige, and the future involvement of Marvel from the Spider-Man universe, sources said. This comes at a moment when the last two films Kevin Feige produced broke all-time records — Disney’s Avengers: Endgame became the highest grossing film of all time, and Spider-Man: Far From Home this week surpassed the James Bond film Skyfall to become the all time highest grossing film for Sony Pictures. (Deadline)
Over the past few years, Spider-Man has played key roles in Marvel Studios’ biggest box office releases.
Disney and Sony entered into a unique partnership for Marvel to produce the Spider-Man movies that starred Tom Holland. The deal saw Feige as lead producer on Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home in a complex arrangement that allowed the hero, whose movie rights are controlled by Sony, to appear in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War and two Avengers movies. The two sides had been talking about ways to extend the deal for future Spider-Man movies to star Holland, but talks collapsed recently. (The Hollywood Reporter)
For 20 years, Sony has had exclusive control of the Spider-Man franchise.
Sony has controlled the rights to the web-slinger since 1999, but the two studios have been happily (or so we thought) sharing Spider-Man across a plethora of films since 2015, including major roles in the latest “Avengers” movies. As part of the previous agreement, Marvel had also been acting as a producer on the 2017 and 2019 standalone Sony “Spider-Man” movies starring Tom Holland, which were both box-office blockbusters. (USA Today)
Sony currently has the power to make a slew of spider flicks including Spider-Man, Spider-Verse and Venom.
Sony will now make Spider-Man AND Spider-Verse movies (Miles Morales is safe) without official input or content from producer Kevin Feige and the MCU. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse earned rave reviews, earned $190 million domestic (Sony Animation’s biggest U.S. grosser) and $375.5 million on a $90 million budget. The sequel is absolutely primed to be a breakout sequel in the tradition of John Wick: Chapter 2 and Pitch Perfect 2. So, now, for the first time since 2004, Sony is in a position of power in terms of Spider-Man. (Forbes)
