If you haven’t heard, Sony got the crap hacked out of them back in November by an unnamed group (some speculate it’s North Korea, seriously), and so much data was lifted that we’re still seeing it slowly trickle out into the public. One of the more recent finds was a bunch of emails between top Sony execs discussing the future of their Spider-Man franchise.
Here are five big things we learned from those emails.
1. They’ve met with Disney about bringing Spider-Man to the Marvel-verse.
The biggest piece of information that the leaked emails revealed was that the rumors of Spider-Man being brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe were not in fact rumors. At least two separate scenarios were discussed with Marvel/Disney.
The first was a situation where Sony would create a new trilogy of Spider-Man movies with Marvel producing, but Sony retaining “creative control, marketing, and distribution.”
2. Marvel wanted Spidey for Civil War.
The second big Marvel talk was over the possibility of Spider-Man appearing in Captain America: Civil War. This one is particularly interesting as Marvel reached out to Sony on this one. It’s no surprise that they’re interested, as Spider-Man had a huge role in the original comic book story arc.
Unfortunately, it seems both talks eventually broke down, and Sony is planning on continuing its current plan of making a bunch of Spidey-related movies no one particularly wants to see.
3. They want Sam Raimi back.
The leak also revealed that Sony was interested in bringing back Sam Raimi, the guy who directed the original Spider-Man trilogy. The studio has apparently reached out to him to either direct or produce an upcoming entry in the series, although we don’t know how he responded.
Given that we haven’t heard anything about this, I’d say that it’s likely he’s not interested, especially after getting shafted halfway through pre-production on Spider-Man 4.
4. A Spider-Man animated film might be coming from the guys who made The LEGO Movie.
According to another leaked email, Sony is considering a Spider-Man animated comedy produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. This one is arguably the most relevant leak, as it’s still (as far as we know) still in development.
Lord and Miller definitely have the right stuff to make a Spidey comedy work. After all, they’ve given us everything from Clone High to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and both 21 and 22 Jump Street. Now if only Sony could get them to direct it…
5. All will be decided at a “Spidey Summit” next year.
Finally, the future of the Spider-Man franchise will apparently be settled at a “Spidey summit” attended by Sony executives in January. Among other things, they will be discussing the previously revealed Sinister Six and Venom movies, as well as that mysterious female-led spin-off.
