Spider-Man was always on borrowed time for Marvel, but now we’re getting an indication of the superhero’s time limit in the MCU.
The planets really did have to align for Peter Parker to have his moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since Sony owned the character, Marvel, and its parent company Disney, had to negotiate terms which worked for all three studios before he could swing his way into Captain America: Civil War.
When he arrived, fans were delighted by Tom Holland’s portrayal of a character that already had five feature films under his belt and two previous actors who had donned the suit. Luckily for Holland and fans of this younger take on Spider-Man, Homecoming quickly found room on the schedule and we got our first solo movie for this new incarnation.
So far, so good. The latest trailer gives us insight into what we can expect from this film, with the incorporation of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man connecting Homecoming with Civil War and, eventually, The Avengers: Infinity War.
We also know a Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel is already in the planning stages, but the question is what happens after the sequel hits theaters?
According to CosmicBookNews, Homecoming producer Amy Pascal spoke out about the topic at Cinemacon.
“One of the things that I think is so amazing about this experience is that you don’t have studios deciding to work together to make a film very often,” she says. “In fact, it may never happen again–after we do the sequel.”
She goes on to say, “Because Sony and Disney and Marvel all decided that the right thing to do was to allow Peter Parker and Spider-Man to be in the MCU, and to work with the Marvel guys and have them produce this film, and I think that was a very rare thing for three companies to do and a very brilliant thing for them to decide to do because there are only so many stories that you know you can tell again and again and again about Spidey, and this is something that we would [have] never been able to do in any other way. So, it was a very selfless thing that was very smart on the part of all the companies.”
Now, this isn’t saying that Spider-Man won’t show up in the MCU after the Homecoming sequel, but contracts will need to be renegotiated, and if Disney, Marvel, and Sony can’t come to terms over Spidey’s fate, it’s likely the rights will return to Sony. After that, it’s anyone’s guess as to what could happen.