Before we go any further: spoiler alert. You won’t find any significant plot details here, but by definition, this post reveals things that you might not want to know about. You saw and clicked the headline and now you’re seeing this spoiler warning. We’ve done all we can. If you read any further, it’s on you.
It turns out that the end credits sequence for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 features a teaser that nods to X-Men: Days of Future Past. This is notable because Spidey is a Sony Pictures project and X-Men is from 20th Century Fox. Both movies are due to arrive next month; Spider-Man on May 2 and Days of Future Past on May 23.
Marvel’s various comic book properties are spread out across Hollywood. While the Disney-owned Marvel Studios possesses the lion’s share, Fox has all of the mutants, plus the Fantastic Four, and Sony has Spider-Man. The fan dream is to see all of these separate film universes cross over with one another, especially now that Marvel’s had such success with everything connected to Avengers. It’s easy to see this Spider-Man/X-Men link as a first step toward a multi-studio franchise future, but it’s unfortunately nothing more than a contractual obligation.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb came to work on the Sony franchise with a lingering Fox Searchlight contract dragging behind him. The filmmaker completed only one half of a two-movie deal that included Sundance 2009-winning indie darling (500) Days of Summer. When Webb entered into negotiations with Sony, the Fox deal almost derailed things … until a mutually beneficial arrangement was reached where Sony would help promote the X-Men flick. Sadly, this does not mean there will be a Spider-Man and X-Men crossover movie. You can read the full story on this at Variety.
The post-credits scene, which doesn’t connect to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and simply gives a closer look at an action sequence glimpsed in the X-Men trailers, sees Mystique, Havok, and Toad taking on military forces led by William Stryker. The whole affair is unfortunately not nearly as exciting as we’d all want it to be, but hopefully the cross-promotion opens studio eyes to the benefits of working together. Stranger things have happened.
