It is well known now that a deal has been established between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios over the movie rights to our beloved wall-crawler: Spider-Man. Yes, that’s correct true believers, Spider-Man has returned home to Marvel! Well…not quite. Spider-Man still technically resides over at Sony, but Marvel now has the ability to include Spidey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Whereas Sony will continue to produce solo Spider-Man films. However, characters which Marvel have woven in their movie universe can now appear in those Spider-Man films and vice versa. Exciting, right? Just imagine the verbal joust between Spidey and the likes of Tony Stark of the Avengers. That’s bound to cause some compelling on screen banter between our native heroes. We’ve yet to even begin climbing the mountain top here, people.
So how exactly is this going to pan out? From the official press release, it’s stated that Sony has “final creative control”. I think we should bear in mind here that their amount of control isn’t actually specified. The first film of the new incarnation of Peter Parker/Spider-Man will be presented to us on July 28th 2017, but we will see the introduction of Spider-Man in a Marvel movie first. Therefore, collaboration between the two studios is inevitably going to be in the same room, across the same table. If Spider-Man is to be integrated into the MCU, then an entirely rebooted Spider-Man universe will need to be created so that it is intricately and directly connected to the MCU. Surely, since this is now the scale being formed, Marvel will have a large say in what Sony intends to do with the Spider-Man character.
We have to believe that this is beneficial for both parties, and ultimately, us fans. Sony’s direction of Spider-Man has certainly been diminished, following what many fans and critiques felt was a disappointing attempt at The Amazing Spider-Man 2. As a massive Spider-Man fan, I personally loved it, just like every Spidey film. That includes the infamous Spider-Man 3 of 2007. In all honesty, that’s probably due to how enamoured I was by experiencing the web-slinger on the big screen. However, it’s only fair that I retain some impartiality. I must admit, both of the films had many flaws, but we can discuss that on another day. Besides, Sony haven't been a complete disaster. I'd say three out of five of their films have been rather successful. Or two and a half, if people wish to be pedantic.
Comparatively, we are inundated with Marvel movies that have proven successful. Sony would be foolish not to utilise the vision and expertise of Kevin Feige (President of Marvel) who has masterminded the MCU. Here lies a concern: Will Sony heed the advice of Marvel? Creative control must’ve been negotiated, extensively. Otherwise, why would Marvel agree to partner alongside Sony? They don’t need Spider-Man, after all. The billions of dollars in profit and high ratings justify this. Just take Guardians of the Galaxy. A relatively unknown to the casual fan, but proved to be another Marvel juggernaut – one of their best, in my opinion.
Although, the fact that the Spider-Man solo movie in 2017 is being co-produced by both Amy Pascal (partner to Sony) and also Kevin Feige, is an early indication of progress and change. The simple fact that Sony agreed to this deal suggests that they need Marvel's assistance in creating the definitive Spider-Man. Sony will surely have their interpretation, but I think now with Marvel, they will receive much assured guidance. So, perhaps we should credit Sony in finally allowing a co-pilot. We can only hope that this will herald a new era of Spider-Man supremacy. Alright, that may have been slightly subjective, but you can sense my optimism. As sad as I am about Andrew Garfield no longer continuing as Spider-Man, if this is necessary to produce a truly great adaption of Spider-Man in movie form, then I will support it. That’s all we want: Amazing Spider-Man movies. Yes, I think the pun works.
We shall see how the character will be handled and how he will be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, potentially in the near future.