Yesterday brought us the rather disappointing news that negotiations have broken down between Sony and Disney over Marvel Studios’ continued involvement with Spider-Man, seemingly bringing to an end Tom Holland’s time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after five hugely successful appearances in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Given how well received Holland’s wall-crawler has been (and how sketchy Sony has been with its previous handling of the property), fans were understandably upset with the news, and had no hesitation in taking to social media to make their feelings known. And, amid the backlash, Sony has released an official statement, in which the company seemingly puts the blame on Disney:
“Much of today’s news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions about Kevin Feige’s involvement in the franchise,” reads the statement. “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. 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.”
As we mentioned yesterday during our original report, it’s unclear quite how Sony will “continue” on this path, given that future Spider-Man movies will presumably be unable to make any reference to the wider MCU – including characters such as Tony Stark and Happy Hogan, who have proved pretty integral to this version of Spidey so far.
What are your thoughts on this situation? Do you think there’s any possibility that a compromise could be reached? Would Sony have any chance of successfully continuing the franchise without Marvel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on social media @FlickeringMyth…
Our friendly neighbourhood Super Hero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of the gang on a European vacation. However, Peter’s plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent!
Spider-Man: Far From Home features the return of Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), Zendaya (Michelle), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), Angourie Rice (Betty Brant), Tony Revolori (Flash Thompson), Martin Star (Mr. Harrington), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), with Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners) as Mysterio.
Originally published August 21, 2019. Updated August 22, 2019.
