Wow. I can’t lie. I never thought this would happen. Even after the news about the leaked emails between Marvel and Sony detailing talks that had been going on for some time. But happened it has. Marvel Studios now has the rights to Spider-Man.
This is huge news! We’re most likely going to see Spider-Man in Captain America 3. That movie is based on the Civil War storyline, which saw heroes siding with either Captain America or Iron Man over the issue of superhuman registration. Stuck in the middle between the two of them is Spider-Man. He was such a central part of Civil War that a Civil War movie without Spider-Man would seem incomplete. But that’s no longer an issue because Marvel and Sony have reached a deal that brings Spider-Man into the Cinematic Marvel Universe.
Not only that, but we get Spider-Man in the Avengers. I swear, as I typed those words, I let out a huge squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
There is some bad news associated with this. Andrew Garfield is reportedly out as Spider-Man. I’m not a fan of this decision. I thought Andrew Garfield was perfect as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He was a perfect Spider-Man in two unfortunately very imperfect Spider-Man films. It would be great if Marvel reversed this decision and recast him as Spider-Man, but that seems unlikely.
It’s funny, looking back 20 years ago the film rights to Spider-Man were such a tangled mess that it looked like we would never get a Spider-Man movie. So many parties claimed to have rights to the film version of Spider-Man. It was a legal Gordian Knot. Read some news articles from then about the situation and you will find it amazing that we’ve had 5 Spider-Man movies made since then.
While I am sad that Garfield won’t be returning to the title role, Spider-Man coming to Marvel Studios is awesome news! When it comes to superhero movies, Marvel Studios has a reputation for quality that is unmatched by Fox or Sony. The worst Marvel Studios movie is arguably the first Captain America movie Iron Man 3, and that’s still a pretty good movie. But look at every other Marvel Studios movie! Name your top 5 superhero movies. Chances are, most of them are Marvel Studios films. Spider-Man is coming home and is going to be put in the best possible hands. Spider-fans everywhere are rejoicing and with good reason. We don’t know yet who will be wearing the Spider-Man mask, but for the first time in a while, I’m confident that whoever it is will be wearing it in a quality movie.
Now we just need Marvel Studios to make a similar deal for Wolverine.
