The internet blew up in February of 2015 when it was announced that Sony, Disney and Marvel Studios had reached an agreement that would finally allow Spider-Man to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was every Marvel fan’s dream to see Peter Parker interact the Avengers, and it had become a reality. Four years later, after two excellent solo films and three appearances in teamup films, the joint control over Spider-Man between Sony and Marvel Studios seems to be on thin ice. Now, why is that?
How Spider-Man Got Caught Between Sony & Disney’s Greed
The reason for that is, unsurprising to say the least: bad maneuvering and corporate greed. After Spider-Man: Far From Home became the highest grossing Spider-Man and Sony film, Disney wanted more profits, which would theoretically make sense, considering his appearances in the larger MCU has made him more popular than ever, it’s just they want half of the earnings. This is Disney, the largest corporate and entertainment conglomerate on the planet we’re talking about, they just want more money for money sake. Sony on the other hand have become a lot more confident after having the financial and critical hits that were 2018’s Venom and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Sony now thinks they got it all figured out and can handle it by themselves. While Raimi’s Spider-Man films and Spider-Verse are great movies, it doesn’t automatically mean they would continue the MCU Spider-Man interpretation with the same quality. So what should happen with Spider-Man? Should he stay at Marvel and continue the story they have been developing for three years now, or go back to Sony. For me the answer is obvious.
Why Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Deserves Better
Spider-Man in the MCU was the second reboot of the character in four years, yes four. Sam Raimi’s classic films were rebooted in 2012 after the mediocre reception of 2007’s Spider-Man 3, which was due in large part to Sony forcing Sam Raimi to include things in the films he did not want, such as Venom. In 2014, when the second film in The Amazing Spider-Man series released to bad reviews, many cited the lack of a cohesive story and focus on a possible shared universe and spin offs as its downfall. Sony seemed unsure of what to what to do with Spider-Man and decided to start discussions with Marvel Studios. In comes along Kevin Feige, who come to an agreement with Sony that allows them to have joint control over Spider-Man, and allow him to be in Avengers films.
Tom Holland made his debut as Peter Parker in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, to widespread critical acclaim. His character continued to grow in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Although not loved by all, partially due to the iterations deviation from the comics source material, Tom Holland and the MCU Spider-Man was by many considered the greatest live-action iteration. Fans were in heaven, Spider-Man was where he belonged and was thriving. Then comes this massive report that Sony and Disney are rumored to have parted ways and Spider-Man will no longer be a part of the MCU, and everyone loses their minds. Although the talks aren’t complete and nothing is set in stone, I believe that Spider-Man should not be yanked from the MCU and lose the fantastic development he’s gone through for no reason.
Why Spider-Man Needs to Stay Home with Marvel
Many people have latched on to this version of the character so much, and want to see him through for years to come, myself included. It would be devastating and cheap to cut all that because of greed and idiocy on both sides. The amount of stories that can be told with Spider-Man in the MCU is infinite, he’s been in five films already and still has only scratched the surface of what he can be. Millions of people are invested in him….why do this now? Part of me says Sony and Disney will do the right thing eventually and the other part of me doesn’t, but I can still hope.
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