This week has been a rough one for fans of the Marvel universe. Disney and Sony had fallen through on their joint partnership using Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They refused to come to any agreement and Sony took the character back and will not be in any MCU movies going forward.
To break it all down here's what happened and why. Back in the '90s, Marvel was it's own independent studio and hadn't been bought by Disney. They were on the verge of bankruptcy and sold their prized characters to different studios. That's how Fox got Deadpool, Fantastic Four, and the X-MEN. Sony bought Spiderman for a disclosed amount. Fast forward to 2015, Sony had failed to keep Spider-Man popular. The movies underperformed and had already rebooted the character. Sony went to Disney and Marvel and they came to an agreement where they would basically share custody. Sony would produce the movies and Marvel will distribute as well as earn 5% of the opening box office and all earnings of merchandise. Let me tell you, that merchandise makes a lot of money with the amount I spend at the Disney store with the nephews.
Now, what happened is they came to renegotiate the deal since it's due to expire. Sony wanted to stick with the original deal but Disney wanted a new deal. They wanted to split production cost and 50/50 on the box office, along with their percentage of merchandise. This deal benefits Disney and less Don't. They also wanted creative control over other Marvel characters that Sony owns the rights to. Sony said no and walked from the table.
The story leaks to Deadline and the internet blew up. This felt like a divorce and Spiderman is the kid in the custody battle. The fans are the friends and family that are watching the mess unfold. This news was made bigger because it's the same week as Disney's D23 Expo, Disney's personal comic con. Everyone was prepared to hear more news of movies in phase 4 such as Black Panther 2, Guardians of The Galaxy 3, and, allegedly, a third untitled Spiderman movie.
Everyone was ready to boycott Sony and when more information came out, the blame shifter to Disney. Marvel wanted to take Sony's offer but Disney wanted more. Now as a marvel fan, I see where both are in the wrong. Disney was asking for too much seeing as they made over 5 billion dollars this year alone and it still has almost a dozen more movies to release. Sony had leverage with owning the rights but excluding Spider-Man from the MCU and erasing the last three years of Spider-Man we have will set it up for failure. This is the third Spiderman we've had in 18 years and Tom Holland has been our Spider-Man. If he leaves Marvel, we'll be going through the mess that was The Amazing Spiderman five years ago.
Was it just all about the money? Yes. Will both franchises suffer from this split? Of course, they will. Could these two studios renegotiate and come to an agreement? Hopefully, because we have at least two more Spider-Man movies on the roaster. Let's hope and pray that the fam outcry is enough for them to come to their senses.
