For those who might have missed it, Marvel’s Spider-Man has had some rocky times, especially in the last few months. However, these issues can be dated back to when the deal between Sony and Marvel first happened.
During the 90s, Marvel Comics declared bankruptcy and sold off the film rights to their most popular characters including Hulk, the X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man.
Marvel Studios launched without its most popular characters at a time when Sony had already developed a very successful trilogy of Sam Raimi Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire.
After Sam Raimi walked away from the production of the fourth Spider-Man movie, the project was turned into a 2012 reboot by Marc Webb starring Andrew Garfield called The Amazing Spider-Man. It was received with a lukewarm response from audiences and critics but had a solid box office.
Two years later, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released and was a critical and financial failure. During that time, Marvel Studios had turned its roster of virtually unknowns into one of the most successful franchises of all time. Sony saw the potential in sharing profits with the box office juggernaut and Marvel Studios wanted their most famous superhero back.
A five picture deal was made where Sony would finance and Marvel would produce two solo movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) while Marvel could use the web-slinger in three additional team-up films. The deal continued without a hitch and out of it came Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
While Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was swinging on the big screen, Sony began developing their own universe. A spinoff movie about villain Venom was released in 2018 with numerous other films in development to create a Spider-Verse without Spider-Man. During production of Venom, rumors swirled about a Tom Holland cameo in Venom connecting the universes. Reports came out in late August that the cameo was cut by Marvel Studios shortly before the film’s release.
Following the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the deal with Marvel Studios expired. Both parties were interested in an extension as these five films together grossed over $8 billion at the global box office.
Spider-Man’s future was first in question when a report came out that revealed if Spider-Man: Far From Home did not cross $1 billion at the box office the contract would expire. However, it did and Marvel and Sony entered negotiations for an extension.
Marvel Studios sought a higher stake in the profits during negotiations and Sony withdrew with their own cinematic universe in mind. The news that Spider-Man would unceremoniously exit the MCU did not sit well with fans and mass outrage ensued.
There were various reports that came out over the next several weeks with conflicting information. The cast went silent on social media and most reports said both companies had moved on and were not negotiating.
On Sept. 27, both sides emerged and announced they had reached a two-movie deal. The deal includes one team up movie, and one solo movie due to release on July 21, 2021. Marvel Studios will receive 25% of the film’s profit and produce both films.
The short extension and the Sony Spider-verse beginning has made many believe these two films will officially write the character of Spider-Man out of the MCU. It has been speculated his final film will be a universe-altering event from the comics that could possibly introduce the X-Men and mutants such as Secret Wars.
