By Gabby Rente
Lifestyle Editor
Just as Tony Stark passed on from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), so too will web-slinging super hero, Peter Parker; however, this decision happened off screen.
Spiderman is now fully in the creative hands of Sony Pictures after the company was unable to reach an agreement with Disney concerning the franchise.
What initiated this split was that Disney asked for changes in their original agreement with Sony.
Disney aspired to strike a new 50-50 deal with Sony in which they would equally share the financing and the profits; however, Sony refused to accept the terms. The two companies could not find a common ground, and since Sony owns the rights to Spiderman movies, out went Spiderman from the MCU.
The news shocked many Marvel fans, who were soaking in the newfound glory brought to the franchise by the creative talents of Marvel Studios and actor Tom Holland.
Because of this dramatic twist of events, fans are struggling with who to blame for this massive blow.
Back in the 1980s, Marvel sold the movie rights to Spiderman, which were eventually bought by Sony in 1999. This is how we got the angsty version of Spiderman, portrayed by Toby McGuire in 2002, and a later reboot of the series featuring Andrew Garfield in 2012.
In 2015, Sony reached an agreement with Marvel Studios in which the two companies would share the character. Marvel would possess merchandising rights and receive 5% of first dollar gross, meaning 5% of box office revenue on the movie’s first day of release, and Sony would receive the rest of the profits.
But this deal also allowed Marvel Studios to assimilate Spiderman into the MCU. Marvel debuted the web-slinging New Yorker in “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016, where he would meet his mentor Tony Stark and eventually join the Avengers.
According to a Deadline report released on Aug. 20, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige would no longer be a part of production for future Spiderman movies.
On Aug. 20, Sony Pictures released a statement on Twitter that said, “We are disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live action Spider-Man film.”
This has resulted in a flood of memes and tweets mourning the loss of the beloved hero, popularizing the hashtags #BoycottSony and #SaveSpidey. Some fans pointed fingers at Disney and others blamed Sony, while a few remained undecided and just cried.
Spiderman aficionado and junior Patrick Salerno commented on the situation.
“I’m not mad at Disney because the fact is, Disney made Spiderman good again,” he said. “They breathed life back into it. The fact that they want more doesn’t matter to me, especially given that they’re willing to give more.”
Salerno also said he was not angry towards Sony either. “Disney put the dice on the table and at that point this outcome was inevitable.”
Fans were dying to hear the news straight from Holland, who was asked to comment on the split at Disney’s D23 Expo where he talked to reporters from People and Entertainment Weekly.
“Who knows what the future holds? But all I know is that I’m going to continue playing Spiderman and having the time of my life,” Holland said. “The future for Spiderman will be different, but it will be equally as awesome and amazing, and we’ll find new ways to make it even cooler.”
Feige was also present at D23 and said, “It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we’d be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I’ll always be thankful for that.
Sony Pictures added to their Tweet, “Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue.”
It seems that the only thing fans can do now is hope that the next Spiderman film will not be a cinema disaster.