Executives at Sony and Disney said that the strong reaction from Marvel fans led to the deal which saw Spider-Man remain in the MCU.
When news broke that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man would no longer be a part of the MCU, there were a lot of very upset fans. In the end, a deal was made between Sony and Disney to continue producing Spidey movies together but it was a bumpy road to get there.
In a recent roundtable with THR, Sony’s Tom Rothman and Disney’s Alan Horn spoke about the role fans played in getting the deal done. Asked what was the one thing above all else that contributed to the deal, Horn said:
“The fan base, which is important to all of us, seemed to really respond to what Tom and his folks have done before with our people. They like the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Kevin Feige were involved [in the two Spider-Man films]. We heard feedback out there that suggested that joining forces once again was probably really a good idea.”
When asked if the partnership will continue given that Sony proved they can handle Spider-Man alone with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Rothman said: “Yes, we have. But I agree with my distinguished colleague. This was a classic win-win-win. A win for Sony, a win for Disney, a win for the fans. The only thing I would say is that news cycles and the rhythm of negotiations do not necessarily overlap. And this is, in the words of Shakespeare, a consummation devoutly to be wished. We would have gotten there, and the news got ahead of some things.”
So there you have it, the fans were certainly heard and contributed to the decision. The next Spider-Man outing will hopefully receive a big response to show the two studios this was the right call.
