After two successful standalone films and a few supporting roles in the crossover films, Spider-Man is officially out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Citing a source, Deadline has reported that talks have broken down between Sony and Marvel about the future of the series and how it is going to be handled financially.
Marvel (Disney) proposed a new deal wherein the two studios would split the production costs 50/50 which would give both studios co-ownership over the franchise. Sony flat out refused and reportedly didn’t even return to the negotiation table. Sony seemingly wanted to keep the previous deal in place where Marvel would only get 5% of the opening day sales with what I can only assume is little investment.
So what does this mean for the franchise moving forward? Well for one we are still going to be getting Tom Holland as Spider-Man as the director and writer are signed on for more movies. The rub comes in that Spider-Man is now more of an isolationist in that he won’t be interacting with any of the characters that Sony doesn’t own. Which after the end to Far from Home really sucks because that ending had the makings of a great set up.
I don’t know what this will mean in terms of quality though, as the Holland movies have definitely benefited from the inclusion of MCU characters and story lines, but the ground work might have been laid enough to help the story find some footing and not end up like the Amazing Spider-Man series, otherwise known as crap.
While no movies have been officially announced it has been mentioned that a third film is in the works and would involve Parker in his senior year. Plans may need to be altered moving forward, both in the Spider-Man films and the MCU as a whole. Turbulent times.
Spider-Man out of MCU [Deadline]