Marvel fans have been praying that Sony and Disney would work something out ever since it was revealed that Spider-Man had been pulled out of the MCU due to a corporate split between the two studios last month. Sony has apparently nixed the chances of this happening, however, after saying that the door is currently closed on the possibility of a new partnership.
It was Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra who made the statement at Variety’s Entertainment and Technology summit. In the same response, the exec said that part of the reason Spider-Man has returned to Sony’s hands is because Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is “stretched incredibly thin” at present and the influx of characters he’s just received from Disney’s Fox buyout – including the X-Men and the Fantastic Four – will not “allow time” for him to oversee the web-slinger’s movies as well.
It is true that Feige must have a lot on his plate these days. As well as mapping out and producing Phase 4 as planned, he’s also got to work the introduction of mutantkind and Marvel’s First Family into the MCU to boot. Plus, the franchise is now bigger than ever before thanks to Disney Plus, with the studio moving into making its own TV series that’ll be closely connected to the movies.
Still, knowing Feige’s passion for all things Marvel, it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t grab the chance to keep making Spider-Man movies if it was there. Especially given that he reportedly even lent a hand with Venom, even though that wasn’t an effort of Marvel Studios. The man himself did recently comment on the situation for the first time as well, spinning it in a positive light by saying that he’s grateful Marvel was able to have Spider-Man in the MCU for five movies to begin with.
As it stands, though, Sony is expected to move forward with more films starring Tom Holland’s Peter Parker as well as crossing him over into their villain spinoffs, like Venom 2 and Morbius. And though we wouldn’t completely rule out a return to the MCU just yet, for the immediate future, Spider-Man will definitely be sticking with Sony.
