It’s official: Spider-Man will be appearing in Marvel’s movie universe.
The glad tidings, trumpeted yesterday across my Facebook and Twitter feeds, reminded me of this tweet:
https://twitter.com/devincf/status/527216769509781504
At last, Sony Pictures and Marvel have struck a deal that will allow everyone’s favourite web-slinger to come in from the cold. Spider-Man will appear in a Marvel film first, then one of Sony’s, which will be co-produced by Kevin Feige (who has produced 10 consecutive hits for Marvel) and erstwhile Sony Pictures head Amy Pascal. “Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films,” Marvel said in its announcement. But the two companies “are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films”. Spider-Man will finally be an onscreen Avenger—he signed on to the comic book team in the ‘90s—and take his place alongside the likes of Captain America, Thor and Iron Man.
This agreement couldn’t have come at a better time for Sony. The studio bought the film rights to Spider-Man in 1999, releasing a trio of films over the next decade that did well enough at the box office, if not always with critics or audiences. Then, barely five years after director Sam Raimi’s last instalment, Sony overhauled the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man, which boasted a new director, a new origin story and Andrew Garfield as the new Peter Parker. Yet the rebooted series brought in even less at the box office. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 grossed $708 million last year, less than any Spider-Man film before it (even Raimi’s lacklustre Spider-Man 3 managed to make $890 million). By comparison, Guardians of the Galaxy made $774 million. One of the world’s most recognizable superheroes was trounced by a talking tree.
After pushing the third Garfield film’s release date back in favour of spinoff films starring Spidey villains, and scrambling to develop projects, including one reportedly about Peter’s Aunt May, Sony saw sense and decided to cooperate with Marvel, finally giving fans what they want.
And yet, I’m less than enthused.
Andrew Garfield is out as Spider-Man (the Internet is already abuzz with casting suggestions), as the studios are planning a reboot. For the third time in 15 years, audiences will get to watch Peter Parker be bitten by a spider, lose his Uncle Ben and learn that “with great power comes great responsibility”. Perhaps we will also be favoured with a darker and edgier film, Hollywood’s new preferred window-dressing for cashing in on old ideas. Marvel has also delayed the release of Black Panther and Captain Marvel (the first Marvel films that will be led by a black man and a woman respectively) to make room for Spider-Man. And according to Variety, Sony agreed to this deal largely for the same reason it’s forging ahead with the cynical, utterly unnecessary Ghostbusters reboot: it badly needs a hit franchise.
Still, Spider-Man in both Marvel and Sony films is better than Spider-Man alone and lonely at Sony. You take what you can get.
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