Spider-Man Comes Home To The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Faith D’Isa ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Marketing Director

Late Monday night, Marvel held a press conference to finally confirm what’s been rumored over months of speculation; Spider-Man, whose cinematic rights have been held by Sony Pictures, is joining the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. The topic has been subject of much debate among fans, many of whom are dedicated to the world that Sony has created with Andrew Garfield and the Amazing Spider-Man series. However, the talks grew as issues in the past months with Sony arose.
Here’s what we know.
An “all-new” Spider-Man will first appear in a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before the launch of his own new film to be released on July 28th, 2017, with Marvel Studios formerly having planned Thor: Ragnarok for that date. Ragnarok is now slated to be released later that year–November 3rd. This presents a few opportunities for Spider-Man to enter the greater universe through post-credits scenes or in any of the upcoming Phase 3 films that are released before that–Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
The new Spider-Man franchise will be co-produced by Kevin Feige from Marvel Studios and Amy Pascal, who’s been looking over the Spider-Man franchise at Sony Pictures. This gives Marvel access to Spider-Man and allows the two producers to also explore the idea of other characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to enter the Spider-Man films. Sony will still retain financial and primary creative control over the films.
What was really obvious about the announcement was that this meant changes for Spider-Man; it was heavily rumored that what was keeping Sony from giving Marvel the access was Marvel’s insistence on not having Andrew Garfield playing Peter Parker anymore. While no word on casting was given, the term “all-new” being emphasized likely means that we won’t be seeing Garfield’s Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Which also raises the question–will we even be seeing Peter Parker? Fan speculation has also risen around the idea that Marvel might skip right into the character of Miles Morales, another man who takes up the title Spider-Man, though it was thought that Sony did not own Miles, only Peter.
The last big question is in which Phase 3 movie we’re most likely to see our new Spider-Man before the launch of the new solo film. In terms of comic book plot, the most likely option appears to be 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which starts filming in a few months; however, it’s extremely unlikely because of the late timing. This thought could be moot if Sony and Marvel have had this deal for a while, but if not in Civil War, where will Spidey pop up?
It looks like we’ll have to wait and see. All we know for sure is that after over 50 years in the comics, Spider-Man is finally coming home on film.