Marvel & Sony Strike Deal For New Spider-Man Film, Will Appear in A Future Marvel Film

Peter Parker’s tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has received a reprieve as Marvel and Sony have reached a deal to keep Spider-Man in the franchise for now. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the two studios have brokered an agreement which will see Marvel produce a third Spider-Man film with Sony that will release on July 16th, 2021.

In addition, Spider-Man will appear in a future Marvel film. Marvel’s Kevin Feige confirmed the news in a statement.

“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it,” Feige said. “Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Variety reports that according to an insider, Marvel will retain their merchandising rights and receive 25% of the gross of the Spider-Man film, while putting up an equal share of the financing. This is a middle ground between the 5% original deal that Sony wanted and the 50/50 split that Marvel was asking. That impasse led to Sony walking away from the deal late last month.

This situation is sure to be a win-win for Marvel and Sony, as Marvel will no longer have to worry about one of their core characters for the time being and Sony does not have to try to go it alone on the third film, which would have been a trickier proposition with as closely tied to the MCU as Peter Parker has been. It will of course reap financial benefits as well; Spider-Man: Far From Home was a huge hit with $1.13 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Sony film ever and the eighth-best MCU film in terms of worldwide gross.

Amy Pascal, the former Sony Pictures head who will continue to produce the Spidey films through Pascal Pictures, added, “This is terrific. Peter Parker’s story took a dramatic turn in ‘Far From Home’ and I could not be happier we will all be working together as we see where his journey goes.”

THR notes that this also leaves the door open for more MCU films with Spidey and more Marvel-produced Spider-Man films should things stay rosy.