Sony Hopes To Extend Their Spider-Man Deal With Marvel Studios

Right now, the future of Spider-Man is up in the air. Despite being one of the most popular and lucrative superheroes, and having featured in two excellent films this year (Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and set to feature in two enormous 2019 movies (Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home), we have no idea what’s next for him.

What complicates matters is the deal inked between Sony and Marvel way back in the 1990s, where the then-bankrupt company sold the Spider-Man movie rights to Sony, with the rules being that they keep them as long as they continue making films featuring the hero. After the success of the MCU and the relative failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 though, Sony agreed to a five-film deal in which Spider-Man could ‘come home’ to Marvel Studios. But that deal expires with the release of Far From Home this summer, which leaves the question of what’s next?

Well, with the success of Venom, some think that the studio could bring Spider-Man into the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters and pit him against Eddie Brock in Venom 2. That’s certainly a possibility, but this interview with Sony producer Amy Pascal in Vanity Fair seems to suggest they’re eager to keep the partnership going.

“I think about crying. I can only hope for a future where things work out. I’ve known Kevin since he was Avi’s very, very quiet assistant, who for many years sat in that room listening to us and being so much smarter than any of us without any of us realizing. I will say that working with Marvel has been one of the highlights of my professional career.”

So, that sounds pretty rosy, right? It has to be said that Sony have a very good thing going on with this Spider-Man deal. Marvel Studios produce the films, and Sony essentially gets to mop up the profits. I’d wager that Kevin Feige will be so eager to keep Spidey in the MCU that we might even see him ‘loaned’ out to Venom 2 while also appearing in future projects.

But then there’s the prospect of Sony Pictures being purchased by Apple, which would mean that all of the above might change. Suffice it to say, interesting times lie ahead, folks.