Alright guys, I've been seeing on just about every social networking site, blog sites, and right here on CV questioning the same exact thing about The Avengers film:

OMG WHERE ARE SPIDERMAN AND WOLVERINE?! THERE AVENGERS IN THE COMICS! THIS IS BULLSH*T!- A quote taken from one of the Avengers fan-pages on Facebook

So, I'm going to make it very clear on a whole list I've gathered, why this particular crossover did not happen, and why it probably won't happen anytime soon.

Let me begin by saying film rights and comic rights and TV rights are all very different things. In the comics, all those characters (Cap, Wolverine, Spider-Man, etc.) are owned by Marvel Comics. They've been there since forever. That won't ever change. Since Marvel Comics owns them all, every single crossover can and has happened since each character's creation (Namor and the Human Torch, Spider-Man and the Avengers, etc.)

Now the TV rights are another animal. Since Disney bought the TV rights to ALL of Marvel's characters, they can all be used in the same show much in the same way that they are in the comics. So if Hulk wants to team up with Spider-Man in Disney XD's Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, they can (and have) do (and done) so. Before Disney bought Marvel however, shows like Spectacular Spider-Man and Wolverine and the X-Men were in in their own little worlds, so Spider-Man would've never been able to team up with Hulk back then. Same goes for Wolverine and the Avengers, or Wolverine and Spider-Man for that matter. After Disney bought the rights, both those shows were canceled and now Disney can do whatever they want with them. As far as animated TV films go, I can only assume Disney now has complete control over the characters too, much like Lionsgate did before them (case in point, Wolverine was a main character in Hulk Vs). So, if Disney said that they want to do a Civil War TV movie, I believe they would be allowed to do such a thing.

Edit: It appears that I got some of the TV rights issues wrong. Apparently Chris Yost, the guy partly responsible for Wolverine and the X-Men has confirmed that that particular show was in fact set in the same world as Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Hulk Vs. That means that Marvel probably owned the X-Men TV rights all along (which makes more sense now that I think about it. Captain America and Nick Fury had guest appearences on X-Men Evolution when it was on). Also, TV rights are filled with many loopholes, and not every Spider-Man cartoon was owned by Marvel or Sony. My apologies, and thank you @cattlebattle for bringing that to my attention.

Now come the film rights. This is where most people seem to get the most confused. Years ago, Marvel Comics sold many of their characters' film rights to various studios, such as Universal, Fox, and Sony. Because the X-Men and Spider-Man films were so incredibly successful, Marvel Comics decided to open up their own film studio, Marvel Studios. Marvel Studios had recently obtained their film rights to Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor (who were previously owned by Artisan, but they never did anything with them, so Marvel got them back). They also re-obtained Hulk and Namor, who were previously under the Universal Studios name. With these specific characters back under Marvel Studios control, it is possible to not only have an Iron Man movie, but to have Iron Man meet Hulk and Thor in the same film, without anybody getting sued! That's great! Now in 2012, the dream became a reality, and now we have a honest to God Avengers film that doesn't suck.

"Now where do Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Daredevil come in Gambit1024? Why weren't they in the Avengers movie too?" Right here, little voice in my head!

See, Marvel Studios couldn't re-obtain all of their rights. With Spider-Man doing so well at Sony and X-Men doing so well at Fox, neither of those studios would dare give up any of those franchises for anything. If Spider-Man were to ever meet Captain America in the Avengers movie, Marvel/Disney would get the pants sued off of them, because he's Sony's baby. So here's which rights lie where (to my knowledge, anyway):

• Sony- Spider-Man and Ghost Rider (and all related villains, characters, etc.)
• Fox- X-Men, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four (and all related villains, characters, etc.)
• Marvel Studios/Disney- All the characters that aren't affiliated with Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, X-Men, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four.

Now of course, there are some little exceptions. For example, the characters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were so closely related to both the Avengers (they were both members for a very long time) and to the X-Men (they're Magneto's children), they can be used by both Fox and Marvel/Disney. There are rules to things they can/cannot say, however. In an Avengers movie, they aren't allowed to discuss "mutants" or Magneto or the X-Men. In an X-Men movie, they aren't allowed to discuss the Avengers or Hulk or Iron Man.

"Alright, Gambit1024! I understand why Spider-Man and Wolverine can't be in the Avengers now, after all! But there's still one thing I don't get: Can Marvel/Disney get the rights to those characters back?" They sure can, little voice!

See, the contracts for say, Daredevil and the FF, say that "If Fox doesn't make a movie without these guys in it after this many years, the rights go back to Marvel." Easy squeezie, right? Wrong. Since Fox cares oh so much about the money these potential cash-cows make, (and who can blame them?) they will do everything in their power to keep these names until they realize that people will not pay any more money to see them. That's exactly what happened with the Punisher, and now he's under the Marvel/Disney roof with all of his old friends.

So I hope I've been clear to everyone about this issue, and I hope someone's learned something from this thread. And if you don't wanna read it all, I'll just say it shortly and loudly:

SPIDER-MAN, WOLVERINE, DAREDEVIL AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT FOX AND SONY OWNS CANNOT BE USED IN A MARVEL/DISNEY MOVIE. IF THEY DO, THEY WILL GET SUED FOR LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY.

The end. :)

Edit: If you're still not satisfied, @Deadcool provided a very pretty picture to yet again drill heads with this information:

@cattlebattle: Where was it ever confirmed/hinted at that WatX was in the same universe as Avengers EMH and Hulk vs? And how else could Disney have gotten the TV rights to Spider-Man and X-Men?

Not being confrontational, I just really want to know. lol

@Deadcool: Pretty much. I just went in depth to avoid dumb questions.

Omg thank you for this. Maybe now people will stop saying 'OemGeEeEe Y IZnt' SpYdamen && Wolvareen in Avengaaaarzzzzz!?!?!'

@cattlebattle: Alright so I'll edit it to include that. Anything else I got wrong? (I'm trying to be as clear as possible)

@Deadcool said:

Nice pic.

Only thing is that Marvel recently got the rights to Blade and Punisher back. Though I'm not certain how that worked, since the Punisher TV show they want to make will be aired on Fox.

If Marvel Studios wanted to get the rights to the above characters back Disney's pockets are deep enough to make it happen. But why do that when you can let the other movie companies make movies and then you get a cut of the sales. Its a win win for Marvel Studios, it only sucks for us fans who want to see Spidey, some X-Men, and the Avengers in the same movie.

Ahh Marvel....you where really stupid....

@JediXMan: I'm not sure on how the Punisher's rights were outside of film. TV rights are usually sketchy and full of loopholes. Doesn't matter anymore in the Punisher's case because Fox isn't picking the show up anyway (for the better, imo)

@Invisible_Witch: Theoretically, yes. Since Fox owns the FF, X-Men, and even Daredevil, there could be a movie where the Thing, Wolverine, and Daredevil team-up and fight Dr. Doom. I don't know why they'd do that, but yes, since they own the rights, they can do whatever they want with them as far as film goes.

@BlueLantern1995: I did mention Scarlet With and Quicksilver's situation. The Iron Patriot armor is an Iron Man suit, and was prominently featured in Avengers comics, so there shouldn't be any conflict regarding that.

I work in the entertainment field on the legal side, so I'm familiar with these types of issues - I didn't want to say anything since I have no specialized knowledge or insider info regarding the terms and stipulations in their contracts. Bravo on doing the research and breaking it out in such a sensible way.

@PhoenixoftheTides: Thanks. And feel free to ask any questions you might have. I'm certain that I know everything there is to know about the movies. TV rights are a different story, but.... Yeah. If you have a question regarding the movies, don't be shy, lol.

There is a possibility that spider-man might be in the next Avengers film as Avi Arad (Marvel Studios founder/producer) was in talks with Sony for Spider-Man appearing in Avenger sequels as they already came to an agrement to use the OsCorp building in Avengers (alought the design for that wasn't complete in time to add so never was used). So we might see Spidey in a future Avengers film would be good for both Marvel and Sony.

Plus I noticed you said that Marvel bought Disney it was the other way aroud Disney bought Marvel Entertainment (which Marvel Studious is a part of) in 2009.

If you mean the contracts the other studios have as it said in the article its so many years after the studio haven't made a film

@johnkmccubbin91 said:

There is a possibility that spider-man might be in the next Avengers film as Avi Arad (Marvel Studios founder/producer) was in talks with Sony for Spider-Man appearing in Avenger sequels as they already came to an agrement to use the OsCorp building in Avengers (alought the design for that wasn't complete in time to add so never was used). So we might see Spidey in a future Avengers film would be good for both Marvel and Sony.

Plus I noticed you said that Marvel bought Disney it was the other way aroud Disney bought Marvel Entertainment (which Marvel Studious is a part of) in 2009.

Regarding the Spider-Man thing: You're absolutely right about that, and apparently there was a tweet made this week teasing a possible revelation in that possibility to be revealed at SDCC. It could be a troll hyping people up, or it might actually be legit. Either way, it's not entirely impossible, but with the rights being at their current state, it's a tad improbable. I look forward to any reveal of this.

And the other thing must've been a typo. I'll look it over.

This is the only legit statement I've found from Arad to Crave

If something like that happens, it’s great for Disney, it’s great for Sony. If the right story comes in, we are now working on Venom first. It’s our first out. So our thinking is in the right direction. Avengers to me was an expected success so I never looked at it because Avengers was successful

I think it be great business for both Disney and Sony so I don't see why not Sony would still own Spidey solo films and they'd get a chunck out of Avengers films and we get Spidey in Avengers win win win

@JediXMan: Only thing is that Marvel recently got the rights to Blade and Punisher back. Though I'm not certain how that worked, since the Punisher TV show they want to make will be aired on Fox.

Fox wouldn't actually be producing the show. They'd just be the network airing it. Far as I know, Marvel would actually be the production house on that series. Another example would be the Wonder Woman series that that pilot was shot for. WBTV was producing it but the plan was for it to air on NBC rather than the WB-owned CW. Or take a look at Scrubs. That show was produced by ABC Studios all of its nine seasons but it aired on NBC for 7 of those seasons. Production is different than airing a show. Though, networks do have a say in how the production company makes their show, including things like casting, storylines, etc., because they are the ones paying for it.