Marvel and Sony Pictures announce Spider-Man to stay in the MCU

Sony Pictures and Marvel seem to have buried the hatchet and decided to get back in the Spider-Man business together. On Friday, Sony Pictures and Marvel jointly announced that they will produce the third film in the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” series. Notably, the film will also feature Tom Holland and he will reprise his role as the titular hero. Earlier, the rumours were doing the rounds that the two companies were close to brokering a new agreement.

The third film in the ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming is scheduled to hit the theatres on 16th July 2021. As per their discussion, the upcoming Spider-Man series will be seen in a future Marvel Studios film. Amy Pascal will also produce through Pascal Pictures, as she has on the first two Holland-led films.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said,  “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.”

“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,” he added.

Marvel has the rights to Spider-Man to Sony for nearly two decades, an agreement they forged prior to Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of the comics company in the year 2009. Sony got critical and financial acclaim with its first round of Spider-Man movies, which were directed by Sam Raimi and featured Tobey Maguire. Its second effort, starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Marc Webb, were far less successful, to send the studio back to the drawing board.

Over the summer, there are reports doing the rounds that the Disney, Marvel’s parent company, and Sony had reached an impasse over a new financing deal. Disney wanted the film 50/50 basis with Marvel Studios chief Feige remaining in a consulting producer capacity.

According to reports, Sony proposed to keep the arrangement under the current terms, which stipulate that Marvel receives about 5% of first-dollar gross and all merchandising revenues.

Also Read: Tom Holland Finally Opens Up On Marvel & Sony’s Spider-Man Fallout