If your Spidey senses have been tingling lately, that's because big things have been in the works regarding Spider-Man's future in film. Following the news that Sony would be taking back ownership of the superhero for future movie projects, it was announced on Sept. 27 that Spider-Man is back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for at least one more Spidey film.
In a joint announcement made by Sony Pictures and Disney (which owns Marvel Studios), the companies revealed that Marvel and its president, Kevin Feige, are set to produce the third Spider-Man: Homecoming film. This all comes after a very public battle between Sony and Disney, during which a financial agreement reportedly could not be reached. Due to the lack of success in the negotiations, the rights to Spider-Man reverted back to Sony, meaning the web-slinger would no longer be able to appear in the Marvel film franchise. Naturally, fans of the MCU were crushed.
However, this new announcement means viewers have not seen the last of Tom Holland as Spider-Man, as many fans originally thought when news of Spider-Man's exit from Marvel broke in August. In fact, the new Marvel-Sony deal has resulted in a firm plan for the third installment of Spider-Man: Homecoming. The movie already has a release date of July 16, 2021, so you know it's really happening.
“We have had a great collaboration over the last four years, and our mutual desire to continue was equal to that of the many fans," Robert Lawson, Sony Pictures' chief communications officer, said in a statement to Elite Daily. "We are delighted to be moving forward together.”
According to Variety, Spider-Man will also appear in another future Marvel Studios film, as part of the companies' latest agreement. But what that film could be is still unclear. And beyond that, the character's future is even more up in the air; take a look at Feige's statement about the new agreement to see what I mean:
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.
Umm, what was that last bit? You read it right: In addition to Spider-Man continuing to exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (at least for the near future), it sounds like Sony is also going forward with creating its own version of the hero's story. Fans think this means Holland (or, to the dismay of many, perhaps a different actor) could continue playing Spidey in future Sony projects while continuing to pop back into Marvel films from time to time, which is an exciting prospect.
Regardless of his future with Sony, Holland seems pretty pumped about his immediate plans. Soon after the news about the new Marvel-Sony deal broke, Holland took to Instagram to post a clip of the infamous "I'm not leaving" scene from The Wolf of Wall Street, which seems like a sign that he's happy the two studio have somewhat untangled their complicated web.
Marvel's third Spider-Man: Homecoming film is set to release on July 16, 2021.
