The day has finally arrived: Spider-Man is coming home and officially joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
How official is this news? Officially official, as Marvel announced their new partnership with Sony late Monday night. Under the new deal, Spider-Man will join the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the MCU, while Sony will continue to release Spider-Man solo films, the first of which will hit theaters on July 28th, 2017. The film and all subsequent Spidey flicks will be co-produced by Marvel president Kevin Feige and “his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal.” Sony will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final say over the Spider-Man franchise, but will do so with Marvel’s helping hands.
Feige, his team, and Pascal will “collaborate on a new creative direction” for the web slinger, which sounds as though Andrew Garfield will not be returning to the role. He’s not mentioned at all in the press release, though, so we’ll just have to wait and see how that shakes out.
Disney’s chairman and CEO, Bob Iger, commented on the new deal by saying:
“Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s great characters, beloved around the world. We’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures to bring the iconic web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which opens up fantastic new opportunities for storytelling and franchise building.”
Sony’s CEO, Michael Lynton, said:
“We always want to collaborate with the best and most successful filmmakers to grow our franchises and develop our characters. Marvel, Kevin Feige and Amy, who helped orchestrate this deal, are the perfect team to help produce the next chapter of Spider-Man. This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans.”
Feige too sounds pleased, and is anxious to work with Pascal:
“I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie. Amy has been deeply involved in the realization on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.”
It certainly is something that Marvel fans have been hoping for for a long time, and honestly wasn’t something many of us saw happening anytime soon, despite recent rumors to the contrary.
Tell us, are you happy about this? What Marvel film would you like to see Spider-Man pop up in first? And, would you like to see Andrew Garfield return to the role? Let us know in the comments below…
UPDATE: According to The Wrap, Andrew Garfield is out as Spider-Man, and a new actor will be brought in. So, who would you like to see cast? Listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast’s thoughts on the news of Spider-Man joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe using the player below:
Originally published February 10, 2015. Updated July 3, 2023.
