Turns out, we owe a big thanks to Tom Holland for keeping Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Update, October 3rd, 12:23 p.m. EDT: As if we needed another reason to love Tom Holland, he’s giving us a big one. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Spider-Man star played a big role in solving the infamous dispute between Disney and Sony about whether or not Spider-Man would remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Spoiler: He will.) Tom is truly our personal superhero.
On-screen web-flinging hero and off-screen sweetheart Holland reportedly made a series of last-minute appeals to both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Sony Chairman Bob Rothman. Sources say Holland’s role in the negotiations made a huge impact on the resolution of the deal. As confirmed on September 27th, Marvel will produce a third Spider-Man movie for Sony, and Spidey will appear in at least one additional Disney-Marvel film.
Thank you, Tom Holland, for using your powers for good.
Update, September 27th, 12:05 p.m. EDT: After more than a month of drama, Disney and Sony have reportedly made a new deal that will put Spider-Man back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whew, we were just getting used to mourning our internet boyfriend Tom Holland‘s departure, so this is whiplash. (But very good whiplash?)
“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it, head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, said in a statement, according to Variety. “Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.
As part of this deal, Holland’s Spider-Man will appear in one future Marvel movie, to be released in July 2021. Feige will also produce the third Spider-Man: Homecoming series movie.
Update, August 26th, 12:30 p.m. EDT: Tom Holland finally addressed the downfall of negotiations between Sony and Disney. This story has been updated with the Spider-Man actor’s response.
We’ve finally heard from Peter Parker himself. Fans of The Avengers have been in a frenzy since news broke that Spider-Man was getting kicked out of the Marvel franchise due to a failed negotiation between Sony and Disney. We were waiting for what our internet boyfriend Tom Holland had to say, and now that he’s spoken out, we have to be honest: his words are making us a little nervous.
"Basically, we’ve made five great movies," Holland told Entertainment Weekly. "It’s been five amazing years. I’ve had the time of my life. Who knows what the future holds?"
Is it just us panicking, or does that sound pretty final? It gets a little better as he continues, but it definitely sounds like he doesn’t plan on being in any further Avengers movies.
“I know is that I’m going to continue playing Spider-Man and having the time of my life,” he continued. “It’s going to be so fun, however we choose to do it. The future for Spider-Man will be different, but it will be equally as awesome and amazing, and we’ll find new ways to make it even cooler.”
The five-and-done sentiment seems to be echoed by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
"We got to make five films within the MCU with Spider-Man: two standalone films and three with the Avengers." he told EW. "It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we’d be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I’ll always be thankful for that.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed, but it looks like everyone is confirming that while Holland will still play Spider-Man, he’s saying goodbye to the Avengers.
Originally posted August 21st: One minute, everything’s fine and Tom Holland is Spider-Man—and the next, just like Thanos’s snap, he’s out of the MCU. According to a Deadline exclusive, it looks like even the Avengers won’t able to patch up this dispute between partners Sony and Disney, which led to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige pulling out of producing further Spider-Man movies.
Okay, but most importantly, what does this mean for our internet boyfriend Tom Holland as Spidey? Let’s break it down.
Who the heck is Kevin Feige and why should we care?
As president of Marvel Studios, Feige has produced the major MCU heavy-hitters, including the Infinity Cycle films and the new iteration of Spider-Man that saw Holland’s Peter Parker join forces with Iron Man (and in many ways, be positioned as his successor). And he’s been spectacularly successful at it, too.
According to Deadline, "Feige has done it all in the last 10 years, producing and overseeing 23 superheros, with not a flop in the bunch. They’ve all been number one openers that have collectively grossed $26.8 billion. Feige this year became the producer of the top-grossing film ever for two studios — Sony and Disney — and he produced three of the top four highest-grossing films this year in Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. This after scoring the first ever Best Picture Oscar nom for a superhero film last year with Black Panther."
So, why would Sony and Disney not want to meet his terms? Well, that gets us into the webbed world of money. (Of course, money.) When you’re dealing with several record-breaking movies for earnings, the two separate studios aren’t always seeing eye-to-eye.
Wait, two studios? Who owns Spider-Man and is gracing us with Tom Holland?
Essentially, Spider-Man is a Sony property—their biggest, in fact. (We may have erased the third Tobey Maguire film from our memory, but even we couldn’t forget how adorable Andrew Garfield was in the role.) Partnering Spider-Man with the Avengers meant Sony partnering with Disney to lend them the character, which was a smart money move on Sony’s part. (And a very good move for us as viewers.)
Bringing the character into Captain America: Civil War, and two Avengers films effectively launched Spider-Man into making Far From Home Sony’s top-grossing film ever. Needless to say, Sony became hesitant about handing over the 50% share of their most popular franchise (including future movies starring Holland) to another studio.
Now, with no deal, Marvel and Disney are kicking Spider-Man out of their Avengers crew.
So does this mean Tom Holland is out as Spider-Man?
Well, right now it just means he’s out of the MCU, aka any movies being created by Marvel Studios with Disney, unless this dispute is resolved. Sony, rightfully, will probably invest heavily on more Tom Holland on all our screens.
Holland was under contract for six movies as the superhero: three solo films and three Spider-Man appearances. The only film left under that contract is the Far From Home sequel, though Sony says it will create another after that, which Holland hasn’t yet signed on for. (Fingers crossed!)
What do fans think of this Spider-Man news?
This news has, of course, sent Marvel fans into a tizzy. Some lament the likelihood that this means Spider-Man’s divestment from the MCU, while others say it might be an opportunity to break new ground for Spidey-stories (such as Into the Spiderverse, which starred Miles Morales as the new Spiderman.) false
When you thought Tom Holland had a six movie contract for #SpiderMan, and it turns out he's doing a total of seven movies but the next two aren't being done by Marvel: pic.twitter.com/PAquagCAk3
— ManaByte 🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine (@ManaByte) August 21, 2019
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If only this were a crisis your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man could easily resolve.
