Contrary to previous reports that stated the talks had been shelved, Comic Book Movie is telling us that there is still a possibility of Sony and Marvel reaching a deal that would have Spider-Man appear in not only Captain America: Civil War, but also the studio’s grandstand ensemble piece, Avengers: Infinity War — Part 1, in 2018 as well.
And though it almost screams idyllic fan fiction from the off, CBM’s report doesn’t go unsubstantiated, with the outlet claiming to have gained access to leaked documents that revealed the specifics of the deal in question. If Spidey were to appear in Civil War in 2016, Sony would handle 25% of the sequel’s budget while Marvel would return the favor by offering to finance 25% of the webcrawler’s next solo outing while also leasing two of the studio’s characters to Sony for the sake of continuity.
This would then make way for a new, Marvel-produced Spider-Man solo film in 2019, and the purported collaboration then went on to detail how Sony wants to have approval of the costume, script and, perhaps most important of all, casting, with the company stressing that Andrew Garfield’s replacement must be on board for three films at least. In terms of behind the camera, that standalone feature would be produced by Kevin Feige, while Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach would sign on as executive producers. Lastly, The Cabin in the Woods‘ Drew Goddard would direct.
Whether this expansive deal comes to pass is another question entirely, given the amount of alleged Sony deals that have found their way online via the hacking. Either way, we’ve known for some time that the studio has been mulling over the possibility of rebooting the Spider-Man franchise even at this early stage, and considering that the rights to the character are set to revert back to Marvel in three years and nine months, this isn’t a matter than Sony will want to drag their feet over, whatever the outcome.