Holy crap people, it’s actually happening. Marvel and Sony have reached a landmark deal that will finally bring everyone’s favorite webslinger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Is this a rumor?
Nope, it is 100% official. A press release went out earlier tonight, and the internet has pretty much not stopped talking about it since.
Holy crap, what are the details?
Basically, there will be a brand new Spider-Man who will be introduced in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.
Then, Sony will relaunch the Spider-Man series with a new film on July 28, 2017, co-produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal. Despite Marvel’s involvement though (and the character’s inclusion in the broader storytelling universe), Sony will continue to finance, distribute, own, and have final creative control over the character’s movies.
A new Spider-Man? So is Andrew Garfield out?
That’s the current word, although it’s worth mentioning that the press release does not specifically mention Garfield, or the creative team behind Sony’s current Spidey universe.
So this new Spider-Man will be a permanent part of the Marvel universe from here on out?
Correct. Basically, even though Sony will still own the character, the Sony Spider-Man movies will officially be part of the MCU canon. Additionally, Marvel and Sony are currently “exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films.”
I’m so excited I peed a little, what else do we know?
Gross, but understandable.
Aside from the details of this deal, we also know that this new Spider-Man movie is going to totally shake up Marvel’s previously announced release schedule. This is because that July 28, 2017 release date coincides with Thor: Ragnarok‘s previously announced date.
To make room for Spider-Man, Marvel has pushed Thor 3 to November 3, 2017; the same date as Black Panther. You can see where this is going.
The two halves of Avengers: Infinity War will stay the same though, with Captain Marvel and Inhumans shifting around them. Additionally, Inhumans new 2019 release date will likely make it Marvel’s first post-Infinity War film.
So what happens now with the old Spider-Man universe?
Sony had a big plan for their Spidey-verse before all of this Marvel business happened. They had originally set release dates for a Sinister Six movie in 2016, a female-centric Spider-Man movie in 2017, and Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2018.
As it stands now, all of that is up in the air, especially if Sony decides to recast Spider-Man himself. That means all of the setup they did in the last movie (Black Cat, Gustav Fiers, the Ravencrosft Institute, etc) may end up getting chucked out the window.
That route would probably make the most sense, given that Spider-Man and his story now need to coexist with a world where the Avengers are running around. That doesn’t mean we won’t eventually see some of those ideas eventually make their way to the big screen, they’ll just be new versions of Sony’s original plans.
So when will we see the new Spider-Man in action?
All we know for sure is that he’ll appear in a Marvel project before his own 2017 movie. That leaves Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, or Ant-Man. Some of those obviously seem a heck of a lot more likely than others, but keep in mind that his debut might just be a short post-credits stinger, which could be shot and attached to practically anything.
The most likely option though seems to be Civil War, as fans have been clamoring for the character to make an appearance ever since the film’s announcements. In the comics, Spider-Man had a pivotal role in the events of that storyline, so it would make a lot of sense for him to feature into that movie in some capacity. That also gives Marvel and Sony plenty of time to recast the character if they want to.
I am resisting the temptation to run around my home laughing like a lunatic right now.
You and me both buddy.
