There's been a lot of rumors flying around that Marvel and Sony were working together in order to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel announced late Monday evening that Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios have struck a deal.
Under the deal, the new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel's Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films.
Sometime before July 2017, fans will finally get to see this new Spider-Man interact with the heroes of the MCU. In addition, Marvel and Sony are looking to intergrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films as well.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is excited for this deal and the future of the MCU:
I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie... Amy has been deeply involved in the realization on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel's involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.
They continue to call this Spider-Man the "new Spider-Man," but what exactly does that mean? Will Andrew Garfield no longer play the role and will the franchise be getting a reboot again?
More importantly, what film will Spider-Man appear in? Before July 28th, 2017, which is the same day Thor: Ragnarok is slated to release, there are a few other Marvel Studio films coming out: Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2. If we had to put our money on anything, we'd bet it all on Captain America: Civil War, considering how huge a role Spider-Man played in the Civil War event.
What do you think of the news and what role will Spider-Man play in the MCU?
[UPDATE]: Thor: Ragnarok's release date has bee rescheduled.