Swinging from building to building. Super powers developed from the bite of a radioactive arachnid. Attending high school by day, fighting criminals by night. The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has captured audiences hearts, with Tom Holland’s rendition of the masked hero. As the final chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe phase three came to a close, audiences were already looking forward to the next Spider-Man movie released three months later. With Holland’s character guaranteed an additional solo movie and the Marvel Universe depending on Spider-Man’s character to tell the story, audiences were pleased, but all of that has been thrown out the window by Disney’s greed.
Stan Lee, the creator of Marvel, was born in December 1922 and published his first comic in 1941. In the 80’s, it was not a big hit. The rights to Spider-Man were sold to Sony in 1999 and Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man was released in 2002. By 2007, after the release of Spider-Man 3, Sony’s Spider-Man was labeled a failure. The reboot of Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield in 2012 was another bust. Sony eventually made a deal with Disney, who bought out Marvel in 2011. The deal allowed Disney 5% of the profits from new Spider-Man movies.
In 2016, Captain America: Civil War introduced the third Spider-Man, portrayed by Tom Holland. Marvel Studios has been producing blockbuster movies since their first Iron Man, in 2008. Tom Holland has been Spider-Man for three years, with two solo films and three collaborative films. MCU fans love Holland’s Spider-Man, and he is arguably the best.
After Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame, Spider-Man became one of the most popular superheroes of the time. Disney asked Sony to change the original agreement of 5% earnings to a 50/50 split. Sony understandingly rejected the proposition and decided to pull Spider-Man from any future MCU movies. Tom Holland’s contract states that he will be in at least one more movie playing Spider-Man, and that will be up to Sony.
As a Marvel fan, I understand that money has to play a role in the filmmaking process, but I do not believe that it should be the driving force in the storyline. Big companies such as Disney make decisions like these to earn more money when everyone knows they don’t need it. Disney already makes large profits with all of the remakes and unnecessary sequels that no one is asking for. The fact that fans will not be able to see their favorite Spider-Man in the movies with the rest of the Avengers where he belongs does not rest well with me or other fans.
Marvel has always done such a good job of planning ahead and making the audience feel like they are being taken care of. It feels premature to completely pull him out of the MCU on Sony’s part, but desperate of Disney to ask. The plan for Spider-Man is unknown as of now, but fans do know that they will see Tom Holland as Spider-Man one more time.
