Recently we announced that Amy Pascal was to produce future Spider-Man movies, what we didn't know was that she will be joined by Marvel Studios very own Kevin Feige. Yes, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment have struck a deal that will merge the Spider-Man movies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios Kevin Feige and Sony Pictures Entertainments Amy Pascal have come together and forged a truly groundbreaking cross-studio movie deal that allows SPE to continue to finance, produce and distribute the Spider-Man movies with final creative control, while also allowing the character to be realised within the much larger MCU, where the web-slinger belongs. In other words; Spider-Man will appear in the MCU and MCU characters will appear in Spider-Man movies – they are now all part of the same shared universe, the MCU!
Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel Studios production, which we speculate to be Captain America: Civil War, after which SPE will produce another instalment to their Amazing Spider-Man franchise set for release July 28th 2017. This will no doubt mean that Spider-Man will be joining the Avengers in time for the Infinity War, as to whether or not he will appear in part one or part two remains to be seen. Here's what the big wigs at Marvel Studios, Disney and Sony had to say about this world changing deal...
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige...
"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."
Disney's Chairman and CEO Bob Iger added...
"Spider-Man is one of Marvel's great characters, beloved around the world. We're thrilled to work with Sony Pictures to bring the iconic web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which opens up fantastic new opportunities for storytelling and franchise building."
Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton...
"We always want to collaborate with the best and most successful film-makers to grow our franchises and develop our characters. Marvel, Kevin Feige and Amy, who helped orchestrate this deal, are the perfect team to help produce the next chapter of Spider-Man. This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans."
Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group President Doug Belgrad...
"Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios share a love for the characters in the Spider-Man universe and have a long, successful history of working together. This new level of collaboration is the perfect way to take Peter Parker's story into the future,"
Now, not to be greedy and all, but lets see if Kevin Feige can work more of this magic with 20th Century Fox, so that the X-Men movies and Fantastic Four can too become one with the MCU, and allow Hugh Jackmans' Wolverine (above) to also join the Avengers where he belongs...
