As exciting as the creation and subsequent rapid expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been, there’s a missing ingredient: Spider-Man. One of the most beloved comic book characters of all time has been shut out as a result of some terribly boring business decisions, but after a decade and change, Sony Pictures has finally agreed to bring Spider-Man back to Marvel.
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On Monday night, Marvel announced that a deal had been struck with Sony that would result in “the new Spider-Man” appearing first in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. The “new” in that sentence signifies that the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man saga might have reached an early conclusion.
There had been rumors of Spider-Man joining the fray as far back as The Avengers, but Sony and Marvel couldn’t make it work. The possibility of a joint venture once again made the news after the Sony hack late last year, revealing that the two companies were once again working to see if they could find a way to get Spider-Man into Captain America: Civil War.
Spider-Man played a pivotal role in the Civil War storyline in the original comics — it would only make sense, from both a creative and a monetary standpoint, to have him in the film. To be clear, Marvel hasn’t said which film Spider-Man will appear in, but chances are that Civil War will serve as his debut.
But that’s not all! Marvel also announced that Kevin Feige and Marvel will help produce the next installment of the Spider-Man franchise, collaborating on a new creative vision for the superhero and integrating other characters from the MCU into his films.
After a disappointing revival for Spider-Man in recent years, it’s great news for comic fans to have Marvel back in the driver’s seat.
