Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have struck a deal to continue sharing Spider-Man for at least two more films after the two sides split back in August…
Spider-Man is sticking around the Marvel Cinematic Universe after all.
A new deal has been struck between Marvel Studios and Sony to continue sharing the character currently played by Tom Holland for at least one more feature film along with Spider-Man appearing in at least one more major crossover movie in the future. The new ‘Spider-Man’ film will land in theaters on July 16, 2021.
“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in a statement.
“Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”
Back in August, Marvel and Sony split after working together to share Spider-Man for two highly successful solo films — ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ — that grossed nearly $2 billion at the box office. The two studios then failed to reach an agreement for future collaborations after Marvel Studios wanted to reap greater profits from ‘Spider-Man’ films while assuming the funding for those movies going forward. In the previous deal, Marvel only received about five percent of the gross profits from any ‘Spider-Man’ solo film while retaining the rights to merchandising.
Under terms of the new deal, Marvel Studios will now reportedly earn 25 percent of the profits and maintain creative control over ‘Spider-Man’ for at least one more movie that will bring the current trilogy full circle. Holland as Spider-Man will also appear in at least one more Marvel Studios film much like he did in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’, which became the highest grossing film of all time.
A deal being struck also opens the door to future collaborations between Marvel and Sony to continue working together where Spider-Man is concerned.
Sony has put a lot of eggs in the Spider-Man basket while retaining the rights to all of the characters from that same universe. Sony already produced another hit film with ‘Venom’, which raked in more than $850 million at the box office with a planned sequel already in the works.
Sony is also producing more ‘Spider-Man’ related films including Morbius the Living Vampire, which stars Academy Award winner Jared Leto in the lead role. Several other projects are also in the works as well as Sony’s plan to develop further animated films in relation to ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse’, which took home an Oscar for Best Animated Feature earlier this year.
With Marvel back on board, Feige can continue the story he began telling with ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ as well as ‘Far From Home’, which ended in a dramatic cliffhanger and now the story will move forward as planned.
