and Sony surprised fans when they announced on Friday, that Spider-Man 3 is once again a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We also learned in the process that the new deal gives Marvel access to Peter Parker for one more movie in addition to Spider-Man 3. I thought that Avengers 5 is the likeliest candidate, considering Spider-Man has only appeared in massive crossover events in the MCU so far, aside from the new Spider-Man trilogy. At the time, I also said that the two MCU films that will include Spider-Man could allow Marvel to give Peter Parker a proper send-off from both the Spider-Man and Avengers franchises. As it turns out, Marvel may indeed be planning to get rid of Spider-Man permanently despite its new deal with Sony.
The massive Far From Home cliffhanger would have been a huge headache for both Marvel and Sony without a deal. Spider-Man’s identity was revealed in the post-credits scenes, which is something that hasn’t been done with the character so far. But neither Marvel nor Sony would have had an easy time dealing with that if Spider-Man was ousted from the MCU.
Meanwhile, Kevin Feige hinted that Sony wants indeed to pursue its own Spider-verse Universe going forward, one that will obviously need Spider-Man:
I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it. Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.
It’s too early for Feige and Co. to say anything about the future of Peter Parker in the MCU, given that Spider-Man 3 won’t hit theaters until July 16th, 2021. Maybe the studios will come to new terms down the road. But word on the street is that Marvel could use this opportunity to write Spider-Man out of the MCU.
We’ve got two different sources making this claim, although one reads more like speculation. ComicBook has learned that the current plan is for Marvel to write Spider-Man out of the MCU with the help of the upcoming two movies featuring Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The blog says the second MCU Spider-Man movie will be a “team-up of some kind.” Again, Avengers 5 would be a great candidate.
Separately, The Hollywood Reporter inferred from the comments Feige made, and from Sony’s plans to develop a Madame Web movie, that Marvel’s plan is indeed to remove Spider-Man from the MCU and let Sony do whatever it wants with the character.
Does that mean Spider-Man will be killed off in some heroic way in Avengers 5, or whichever crossover film he’ll appear in? Probably not, and I’m also speculating here. The character is too big to kill, given that Sony and
Whatever the case, it’ll be a few years before we find out whether Spider-Man disappears from the MCU for good.
