It’s not exactly an eleventh hour deal, but it is a surprise one. Variety reports that Disney and Sony Pictures have agreed to keep Spider-Man in the MCU for at least one more movie. The report also says that Spidey would appear in at least one future Marvel Studios movie. Tom Holland would, of course, return to star. Amy Pascal would also continue to produce. So, what else was part of the deal.
Marvel and Disney would retain merchandising rights and put up a quarter of the financing. So it makes sense that they would receive only 25% of the movie’s profit. Kevin Feige would also stay on board to give his input on the project. Feige had this to say about the deal, “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.”
Without getting too bogged down in the numbers and other specifics, this seems to be a win-win for both sides. I will give Sony and Tom Rothman credit for this, they played a bit of hard ball and seemed to get what they wanted in the end. Not that this doesn’t work out great for Disney too, but this is one time where it seems like they had to compromise and that’s not typical. The yet to be titled third Spider-Man movie is scheduled for release July 16, 2021.
Photo Credit: Sony Pictures/Jay Maidment