Skip to main content

Sony can take back Spider-Man, but this Spidey can never go home again

While it seemed like posturing at first, it’s looking increasingly likely that Sony’s threat to pull Spider-Man out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and keep the billion-dollar web-slinger for itself is all too real.

Sony just finished purchasing the gaming company that made the most recent Spider-Man game. The film studio was so high off the success of its animated Spider-Verse that Sony’s talking heads spoke of little else at CES 2019. Then there’s the surprise success of the villainous spinoff, Venom — all seem to have emboldened Sony when it comes to sharing its precious Spider-Man film rights with Disney’s ever-expanding MCU.

That’s too bad — for everyone involved, really.

But it’s especially tough on anyone invested in Tom Holland’s wonderful take on the beloved character. Because, try as they might, if the studio execs at Sony think they can simply jerk Holland out of the MCU and plant him in some self-contained Spider-Verse, they’re dead wrong. Sony can no sooner split Holland’s Spider-Man from his MCU roots than the hero can separate himself from that fateful radioactive venom.

Our current, on-the-rise Spider-Man iteration and Marvel’s deeply rooted cinematic universe of characters and story arcs are all utterly intertwined. Unfortunately for the dollar-sign seeking execs, if Sony wants to dissolve the friendship, there’s nothing to be done but start over. Again. For the fourth time.

(Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and other Marvel properties follow.)

Birthed in the MCU

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Think about the first time you saw Holland’s Spider-Man. It wasn’t swinging through the streets of New York, Mary Jane on his mind, with a slice in his hand. It wasn’t rushing around the newsroom trying to pitch poorly focused photos of himself in costume, or even being bitten by a radioactive spider.

Nope, the first time you saw our current Spider-Man in the flesh (so to speak) was when Tony Stark — the most iconic hero in the MCU and the character who started it all — dropped by his apartment to recruit him as a sort of junior Avenger.

The first time you saw Spider-Man in action? It wasn’t saving his teenage buddies at the Washington Monument. Instead, it was ripping Captain America’s shield away in a daring bit of acrobatics, before joining one of the most epic pre-Endgame battles in the MCU.

As they say, you can’t make a second first impression. Those are iconic images, ones that will be forever etched into the very being of this specific Spider-Man. And they’ll be pretty tough to brush away as though the universe in which they exist never happened. That’s not to mention his traumatic death in the big snap, and resurrection in Endgame, along with his role in Far From Home, in which our young Peter Parker essentially takes on the mantle of the next Iron Man (of sorts).

Does Sony expect us to just throw all of this away and never speak of it again?

Another reboot?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sure, all of this can be explained away with a killer script — perhaps one set within a different dimension (and the Spider-Verse will surely help there) in which Peter Parker never met the Avengers, never befriended Iron Man’s sidekick Happy Hogan as an uncle figure, never battled Thanos for the sake of humanity, and never even met the rest of the MCU’s valiant heroes or brutal villains.

But where does that leave us? Starting over, really. And hey, if you’re going to start over — though Tom Holland’s take is arguably the greatest live-action version of the character yet — you might as well make a clean break and drop all that MCU baggage. That’s especially true given that Sony’s Miles Morales version of the character in the ground-breaking film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is extremely popular and, not to be undervalued, also one of the few characters of color in the superhero world.

Further, even if Sony holds on to Holland, everyone buys this new, completely reimagined version of his character, and no one instinctually misses a deeper connection to the rest of Marvel Comics’ heroes, do we really trust Sony to carry this franchise forward? Barring the surprising recent successes of both Into the Spider-Verse (which had a lot to do with the incredible animation) and Venom, the studio has a pretty poor track record when it comes to sustaining a superhero franchise.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s true that Sony’s original Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire were highly successful, arguably helping to kick off this superhero freight train Hollywood is currently riding into oblivion. But it’s also true that the franchise was sputtering by its third film. And recruiting Andrew Garfield — who is a pretty dang good actor in his own right — didn’t do much to make things better when they rebooted Spider-Man for the first time.

Either way, whether Sony holds fast to a revamped version of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, or once again reboots the franchise while the Holland iteration is still in its prime, the studio is likely to meet either an extremely confused audience, or one with serious reboot fatigue. And it could take years until the prized franchise is back on its feet again.

As one of the most popular superheroes of all time, currently in one of its most well-executed on-screen iterations, it’s no surprise that Sony wants Spidey all to itself — nor why Disney is extremely eager to keep the character under its MCU banner for several more films.

But if the two parties don’t come to the table soon with compromise on the brain, say goodbye to the current version of Spider-Man you know and love. Because no matter which way you slice it, Tom Holland or no, he’s dead — all over again.

Editors' Recommendations

Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
12 new Marvel characters we want to see in the Spider-Man 4 movie
Spider-Man panicking.

After the spectacular success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, audiences are eager to see Tom Holland return as Spider-Man in a fourth solo film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though such a sequel is already in development, almost nothing is known about what the film is about or who will appear in it.

The possibilities are endless for Spidey's next adventure, so as the world anxiously waits for him to swing back onto the big screen, here is a list of new characters Spider-Man could meet in his fourth film in the MCU.
Hammerhead

Read more
The Amazing Spider-Man at 10: Was Andrew Garfield the best Spidey of them all?
Andrew Garfield Spider-man

Whatever you may have thought of its quality, Spider-Man: No Way Home was undoubtedly the biggest movie of 2021. Just when many assumed that movie theaters had bit the dust, No Way Home came through and smashed all expectations for how it would perform at the box office. One of the reasons the movie did so well is because it united Tom Holland's Peter Parker with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of the character. And, somewhat shockingly, Garfield manages to walk away with the whole movie. 

Holland and Maguire are great, and Maguire especially seems to fall back into his performance as Peter Parker with ease after more than a decade away from the role. Garfield, though, has emerged as the most venerated actor of the three, and his Peter may be the most tragic.

Read more
What’s new in Spider-Man: No Way Home’s More Fun Stuff Version
Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, and Tobey Magure behind the scenes of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home has swung back into theaters with the release of its extended cut, "The More Fun Stuff Version." Featuring 11 minutes of extra content, this longer film is a treat for audiences who enjoyed the original superhero blockbuster.

Overall, the movie's additional footage doesn't add any crucial details to the plot, as it's mainly bits of comedy sprinkled into the mix for the audience's enjoyment. Despite that, "The More Fun Stuff Version" makes for a fun cinematic experience that fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will want to see. For those considering seeing this new edition of the film, here's a list of notable changes audiences will want to look out for in theaters. Obviously, the following contains spoilers, but you wouldn't be here if you didn't know that, right?
Opening chat

Read more