Though we’re getting sick of hearing it reiterated again and again, it looks like people just aren’t going to stop asking questions about a crossover between Spider-Man and the Avengers. The topic came up again recently when The Amazing Spider-Man producer Avi Arad spoke with IGN, where he told them that the cross-over that many fans are begging for won’t be happening any time soon.
The main reason Arad gives for avoiding a crossover is the fact that he believes the Spider-Man universe has more than enough source material, especially with the plans for Venom and Sinister Six films.
I think I’m probably a little bit of the militant here. I think it will take a moment in which we’ve run out of ideas. There’s so much to tell about Spider-Man. There’s so much to tell about the Sinister Six. The relationship between Spider-Man and Venom will bring a whole other world in… But we really feel very confident that we have so much to do… Peter Parker is unique; he’s really different. He’s not an Avenger. He’s not an X-Man. He’s unique and we revere that.
Arad’s co-producer Matt Tolmach echoes those statements and went a bit further in his explanation.
“You know Avi always refers to that question as a stunt. If you were to do that, you know, Spider-Man in the Avengers is a stunt. And I get why everybody – you know, fans and audience members and movie goers – I understand it.
When you think about the Sinister Six and you think about Venom and you think about Carnage and you think Spider-Man in whatever way you want in association with those movies, they feel like they’re built for Spider-Man. Like that’s where his story needs to go and wants to go and it has to be about more than a stunt.
Stunts can be cool but it’s also a business, and so the other side of the answer is they’re owned by different companies. And there’s a ton left in Sony’s world; there’s a lot of business left because there’s a lot of story left. So for them to want to take this character and put it with Marvel and Disney is a huge undertaking and probably, as Avi’s saying, isn’t necessary until you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re sort of out of ideas. What should we do?’ And we’re far from out of ideas.”
Personally, I’m firmly on the side of Arad and Tolmach here. Adding Spidey to a future Avengers movie would be nothing more than a stunt and would be totally unnecessary. There’s no need to add any of the Avengers to a Spider-Man story, as his universe is one of the richest in all of comics. Putting the webslinger into an Avengers movie would just mean that there’s another character taking screen time from heroes who won’t ever get their own movie. There are so many great heroes to choose from with the Avengers and so many great stories to tell for Spider-Man. There’s no way that this would make sense for either party, at least from a creative standpoint.
I get where some might say that it could be financially beneficial, but really, are more people going to show up for The Avengers 3 because Spider-Man has a cameo? At most, it would be a small treat that fans would enjoy, but beyond that, there’s really not much value to merging the two cinematic universes, especially as long as The Amazing Spider-Man franchise continues to draw crowds. I’m a fan of what both studios are doing separately, and I’m more than happy to let them stay on the path they’re on.
