UPDATE:
Since the posting of this news, Marvel has announced that due to the addition of the Spider-Man movie in July, some of the Marvel Phase 3 movies have been pushed back;
Thor: Ragnarok will hit cinemas on November 3, 2017 as opposed to July 28, 2017, when the new Spider-Man film is now scheduled to open. Black Panther has been moved from November 3, 2017 to July 6, 2018. Captain Marvel has been moved from July 6, 2018 to to November 2, 2018, Inhumans is now scheduled for July 12, 2019, bumped back from November 2, 2018. The dates for Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 & 2 will remain unchanged, according to Marvel.
ORIGINAL STORY:
We’ve been waiting for so long, but it’s FINALLY happened, and it’s for real this time. Sony and Marvel have confirmed that everyone’s favorite wall crawling hero, Spider-Man, will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In a post over on Marvel’s website, the company confirms that Sony has agreed to bring Spidey into the MCU, with a new Spider-Man film to be produced by Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios President, and mastermind of the MCU), and Amy Pascal, and is scheduled to be released on July 28, 2017. Under the deal, Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own, and have final creative control over the Spider-Man films.
Along with creating a new movie for audiences to see, Kevin Feige and Sony will work together to craft a new creative direction for the super hero, which most likely means we will not be seeing Andrew Garfield return. Marvel has also announced that they are looking for ways to bring Spider-Man into the MCU, as well as have current members feature themselves in future Spider-Man movies.
In the statement, the companies go on to announce how happy they are that they can finally bring the character into the MCU, and announce that it is “the right decision”:
“We always want to collaborate with the best and most successful filmmakers to grow our franchises and develop our characters. Marvel, Kevin Feige and Amy, who helped orchestrate this deal, are the perfect team to help produce the next chapter of Spider-Man.”
“This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans.”
While this is incredible news, and there is no reason not to be excited about finally seeing Peter Parker in the same movies as Tony Stark, Captain America, and the rest of the MCU, it is intriguing to see the terms of the agreement. It isn’t like Marvel to not have a hands on approach with their properties, especially with how intricately woven the MCU is. To let Sony retain ownership of the Spider-Man films, as well as giving them final creative control over it, just goes to show all that Marvel wanted was to be able to have one of it’s most iconic characters in their movies.
