By Ananya Nrusimha
Marvel and Sony have recently agreed to jointly use Spider-Man in their creative work. This decision has a host of repercussions for both Marvel and Sony’s superhero-related properties.
For Marvel, this decision means that Spider-Man will appear in their upcoming film Captain America 3: Civil War. The character was an integral part of the comic book Civil War is based off of, so it will be nice to see him in the film. Spider-Man will also be able to appear in Marvel’s TV series like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, which could provide an abundance of interesting material for both series. However, it has been speculated that Sony agreed to the deal only because of The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s lackluster performance, which means that it will be almost impossible for Marvel to acquire the X-Men, whose Fox-owned films have been extremely successful as of late. However, this won’t actually harm Marvel too much, since the X-Men usually don’t interact with the rest of the Marvel characters in the comic book world. Marvel’s ability to acquire the Fantastic Four, a set of characters who, like Spider-Man, are owned by Sony and are an important part of the comic book version of Civil War, will depend entirely on how well their eponymous film (which will be released this August) does.
The consequences of this deal for Sony are far more serious. The next standalone Spider-Man film (which will be a reboot for the franchise) will be co-produced by Marvel and Sony and will be released in July 2017. Andrew Garfield will no longer play Spider-Man; the role will instead go to a younger actor. The Amazing Spider Man series that Garfield helmed is likely no more. The status of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff movies, such as Sinister Six and Venom, is unknown, but these films will most likely be dropped.
In short, Sony’s superhero presence has almost completely been eradicated, and it will be destroyed completely if Fantastic Four doesn’t do well. Marvel has added a new character to the Marvel Universe with limitless possibilities for guest appearances and insertions into other movies and TV shows thanks to the character’s large and complex web of relationships in the comics. Marvel has also set a precedent for acquiring characters that could help it get the Fantastic Four from Sony. While Fox (which owns the X-Men) wasn’t directly affected by this deal, they will have to be a little more careful with their films as Marvel could potentially get joint custody of their characters if the upcoming X-Men films don’t do well.
