Spider-Man Finally Joining The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The future of the Spider-Man franchise has been in question for quite some time now, but we finally have some clarity on what’s set to happen with the famed wall-crawler’s big-screen adventures.

It’s been confirmed that a new Spider-Man will debut in a thus-far unspecified movie within the Marvel cinematic universe. After that, Sony will release the next installment in its own Spider-Man series.

Furthermore, Sony’s next Spider-Man movie now has an official release date – 28 July 2017.

The issue discussed between the two studios goes back to the 1980’s, when Marvel sold the Spider-Man rights to Sony, which led to the creation of 2000’s original Spider-Man film starring Tobey Maguire. Since then, Marvel has grown from comic-book company into a powerful movie studio itself, and now wants to regain control of its prized possession – Spider-Man – so that he can join up with the Avengers and have his own movies created under Marvel’s control.

The official press statement declares that “together, [Marvel and Sony] will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger”. That sounds to us like the plans that Sony had been working on for its own Spider-Man movie universe have been set aside.

Our guess is that Drew Goddard’s Sinister Six movie, as well as Alex Kurtzman’s Venom spin-off, are both unlikely to happen. That’s not been confirmed, but it’s tricky to see where they’ll fit in now.

What has been confirmed is that Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige will join outgoing Sony Pictures boss Amy Pascal in co-producing 2017’s new Spider-Man movie.

Feige seems happy about this, too. In the official press statement, he’s quoted as saying “I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie. Amy has been deeply involved in the realisation on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years”.

One further line from the press statement too: “Marvel and Sony Pictures are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films”.

Will Andrew Garfield return? Will there be a new face for Spidey? Let the speculation begin.