Originally published May 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
It came as quite the surprise when it was first announced that Marvel and Sony had reached a deal to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Captain America: Civil War, and now we’re just a couple of months away before the release of the new web-slinger’s first solo outing in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of speculation as to how long this Marvel / Sony partnership could last, with Marvel’s Kevin Feige stating that Avengers 4 is “as far as it goes for now” and reports suggesting that Homecoming 2 could be the end of the road for the deal.
While we’ve assumed this means that Sony would then go back to having full control over the wall-crawler, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 star Dave Bautista has now suggested this may not be the case after all, as he thinks Marvel could regain the character.
“Spider-Man is the [movie] I’m really looking forward to,” said Bautista during an appearance on his former WWE colleague Chris Jericho’s podcast Talk is Jericho. “I love that kid. I love Tom Holland. I also love that they’re staying so true to the comics with this whole series and I think that’s because Marvel Studios has gotten involved. I think before, I think it was Sony who had control. And I think they’re doing a partnership now, but I think they will – I don’t know this for sure – but I think they’re going to re-acquire Spider-Man.”
SEE ALSO: Why Spider-Man will stay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe beyond 2019
Now, it’s possible that Bautista is just speculating here, but considering he’s pretty well placed within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and has just been shooting Avengers: Infinity War with Tom Holland (and virtually everyone else associated with the MCU), it also seems entirely possible there’s been some talk on set with regards to the rights coming back to Marvel…
A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.
Spider-Man: Homecoming sees Tom Holland and Marisa Tomei reprising their roles from Captain America: Civil War as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Aunt May, alongside Marvel veterans Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan. New additions to the cast include Michael Keaton (Birdman), Michael Barbieri (Little Men), Zendaya (K.C. Undercover), Angourie Rice (The Nice Guys), Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus), Martin Starr (Silicon Valley), Donald Glover (Community), Laura Harrier (One Life to Live), Kenneth Choi (Captain America: The First Avenger), Hannibal Buress (Broad City), Isabella Amara (The Boss), Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. (Graceland), JJ Totah (Glee), Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation), Michael Mando (Better Call Saul), Selenis Leyva (Orange Is the New Black), Bokeem Woodbine (Riddick), Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey), Garcelle Beauvais (Hollywood Today Live), Tiffany Espensen (Kirby Buckets), Michael Chernus (Orange is the New Black), Jona Xiao (Halt and Catch Fire) and Martha Kelly (Baskets). The film is set for release on July 7th.
