Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Sony Pictures has decided to carry on with the Spider-Man franchise, without the involvement of Marvel Studios. Furthermore, it has blamed Disney for cutting the inter-studio cooperation short. The successful cooperation allowed Spider-Man to appear as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There were talks to extend the deal, allowing Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to keep appearing in future Marvel movies, but it seems like that won’t happen until further notice. The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news.
Earlier reports suggested that Sony and Disney had parted ways as co-producers of the revived Spider-Man film franchise. It was suggested that Tom Rothman and Alan Horn, the studio chiefs at Sony and Disney respectively, could not come to an agreement on a financial arrangement that would allow them to continue their collaboration.
For those unaware, Sony had entered into a unique partnership with Disney. This allowed Marvel Studios, which falls under the Disney umbrella, to produce the Spider-Man movies. Part of the deal also saw Kevin Feige become the lead producer in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming‘ and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home‘. There was also a complex arrangement in place, which first allowed the hero, whose rights are actually controlled by Sony, to appear in Marvel’s ‘Captain America: Civil War‘, ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘ and ‘Avengers: Endgame‘. Due to the success of these movies, both sides had been in talks, exploring various ways to extend the deal, which would allow Holland to keep starring in future Spider-Man films. However, the talks failed recently.
In their official statement, Sony said, “Much of today’s news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions about Kevin Feige’s involvement in the franchise. We are disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live-action Spider-Man film.” The spokesperson from Sony also hinted that Feige might have too much on his plate in terms of Marvel characters after Disney acquired 21st Century Fox. The statement clarified, “We hope this might change in the future, but understand that the many new responsibilities that Disney has given him – including all their newly added Marvel properties – do not allow time for him to work on IP they do not own. Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue.”
Notably, Sony had announced on Monday that ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ had surpassed ‘Skyfall‘ to become the most successful release of the studio. The movie has brought in $1.109 billion and counting, worldwide. These numbers are expected to go up, now that the film will be released over the Labor Day weekend with four minutes of additional footage. While Marvel might be disappointed that Spider-Man will not be appearing in Marvel’s future movies, it spells an exciting time at Sony Studios, since we might get to see a Spider-Man and Venom crossover in the future, after all.
