In a shocking turn of events, Marvel Studios will no longer be involved with the production of Spider-Man movies. After Sony tried (and failed) to launch their own Spider-Man shared universe with the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, the studio struck an unprecedented deal with Marvel Studios, which allowed Peter Parker to become part of the highly-popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tom Holland made his debut as the wall-crawler in 2016's Captain America: Civil War and went on to reprise the role four more times, including a pair of successful standalone films.
Holland's most recent turn was in July's Far From Home's stunning post-credits scenes, it seemed like the partnership between Sony and Marvel would thrive for years to come. But that assumption would apparently be wrong.
According to Sony and Marvel could reach a new Spider-Man deal.
This means that unless the two parties reconvene and iron out new , Spider-Man is out of the MCU. After Far From Home explored his dynamic with Happy Hogan. Now, this aspect of the films is gone, and the creative team will need to find ways to write around it. Watts and company will be able to come up with something, but it remains to be seen if it's a satisfying explanation for viewers. Fans were excited to see Spider-Man and related characters (like J. Jonah Jameson) continue to be a part of the larger MCU sandbox.
Even without Spider-Man at their disposal, Marvel Studios has a bevy of characters that can carry the franchise through Phase 4 and beyond. Black Panther and Captain Marvel headlined $1 billion solo films of their own. Thor's standalone series is continuing with Love and Thunder, and Marvel always has new heroes to introduce. Still, Spider-Man is arguably Marvel's most popular character and was set up to be a key figure on a New Avengers roster moving forward. Abruptly, those plans must change, and it'll be interesting to see where both sides go from here. Sadly, just as Disney/Marvel gains the ability to use X-Men and Fantastic Four, they watch Spider-Man head off on his own again.
