This weekend, Disney took the opportunity to hype all its upcoming projects and revel in their recent successes. But even though the event (D23) should’ve been considered a triumph, what with all the positive reactions to most of their announcements, there was still something of a pall surrounding the proceedings.
This came about, of course, because news of talks between Sony Pictures and Disney breaking down in regard to the use of Spider-Man broke just before the bi-annual extravaganza. And regardless of what happened at D23, discussion seemed to continually turn toward this unfortunate circumstance.
Fans are understandably worried, as the web-head has, arguably, never been more popular. With the Oscar-winning success of Into the Spider-Verse and Far From Home becoming Sony’s first billion dollar hit, amid very positive responses from all corners, this sudden shake-up really packed a wallop.
And everyone, from pundits across entertainment media, to Marvel co-stars like Jeremey Renner, have commented on the situation. Now, Guardians of the Galaxy mastermind James Gunn has weighed in on the controversy, too. Responding to a fan on social media, the ever-popular director stated:
It’s two corporations working their shit out. I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. But speaking of that, the day I shot this scene was the day I introduced Tom Holland to Stan Lee for the first time. Tom and Spider-Man director Jon Watts are both class acts.
No one really knows what’s going down or how things will pan out, but Gunn seems to have hit the target square on the head. Chances are high though that one way or another, these two media titans will work out their squabble. They’ll come to realize how lucrative their partnership has been and they’ll arrive at a mutual compromise.
At least, we certainly hope they do. After all, D23 didn’t exactly reset the press cycle as much as expected and it’d be better for the House of Mouse and Sony to figure out the whole Spider-Man situation sooner rather than later.