Cheer up, spider-fans; Spider-Man’s ejection from the MCU may be short-lived.
According to a new rumor started by YouTuber TVO, Marvel Studios’ parent company Disney and Spidey film rights holders Sony Pictures are back at the bargaining table, trying to work out the details of a new deal that would keep the wall-crawler in the MCU for a long, long time.
The unconfirmed report says that “inside sources” at Marvel have given TVO the skinny on new negotiations between the two studios, who recently failed to reach an agreement to extend their shared custody arrangement for Spidey.
Again, we stress that this report is completely unconfirmed, but it would be pretty exciting if the rumors are accurate. According to TVO, the new deal being discussed would involve no fewer than six feature films starring current Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, and an option for a seventh. Who wouldn’t want seven more Spider-films?
One of these as-yet-imaginary features would serve as a direct sequel to this year’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, and would conclude the story of Peter Parker’s high school years. An additional three solo vehicles would focus on Parker navigating the ups and downs of college life while contending with a growing array of supervillains.
But wait, there’s more. The other two films proposed in the deal, according to TVO’s anonymous and unconfirmed sources, would be the fifth and sixth Avengers movies, which have not yet been announced by Marvel Studios either. And in true fan-fiction fashion, these sources also report that the plan is for one of these team-up flicks to depict Parker meeting up with one of his oldest allies: Johnny Storm, the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch.
Is it likely that Marvel and Sony have planned that far ahead, and those plans won’t easily change? Not really, but technically, this meeting would be possible thanks to Disney’s recent acquisition of the film and television rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. As the youngest member of Marvel’s First Family, Johnny Storm was the first hero to offer counsel to Spidey when the latter was first embarking on his crime-fighting career, way back in The Amazing Spider-Man #3. During a speech at Peter’s school, Johnny Storm spoke about the virtues of never giving up. It was a message that hit home with Parker, who had just suffered his first humiliating defeat at the hands of Doctor Octopus. Inspired by Storm’s words, Parker saddled up for a rematch with Doc Ock – and this time, he won.
TVO’s mysterious sources also offered up one final tidbit: Marvel has allegedly come back to the table with a couple of bargaining chips that would incentivize Sony to get the deal done.
First, the deal would reportedly stipulate that Disney, who holds the television rights to Spider-Man, would allow Sony to move forward with their TV universe based around the wall-crawler and his pals. Chris Miller and Phil Lord, who co-produced the Oscar-winning animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for Sony Pictures Animation, have been tasked with developing the slate of live-action series, which presumably are dead in the water until Disney and Sony hammer out a new deal.
Second, Disney is said to be interested in integrating Sony’s Marvel Characters, which include Venom and Morbius the Living Vampire, into the MCU. The Tom Hardy-starring Venom was a resounding commercial success, raking in $856 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Considering that Far From Home recently became the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie ever, and Sony Pictures’ best box office performer of all time, the idea of folding Venom into the MCU has to be a tantalizing one. It would virtually guarantee an even more stellar global take for the Lethal Protector’s second solo vehicle, which could conceivably feature Spider-Man next time around.
Once again, and we can’t say this enough, this report is in no way confirmed. But it’s not too difficult to imagine that talks could begin again. Fingers crossed that TVO’s sources aren’t yanking our webs. We’ll be here to report on any official announcements that may come down from Marvel and Sony.
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