After a brief departure in the events of Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”, Tom Holland’s Spiderman has made a return in 2019’s summer blockbuster “Spiderman: Far From Home”. However, with the breaking of a contract between Sony and Disney, he may not make another appearance in the MCU in the foreseeable
future.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the property of Disney, and before Marvel began producing films they had already sold the rights to Spiderman to Sony. Based on the contract, Sony would create two film series before Spiderman would integrate into the MCU with “Captain America: Civil War” (released in 2016).

However, Disney strained the contract with demands for a share 10 times larger than what was originally agreed on. The deal fell through, and recently, Disney and Sony officially terminated their contract over their concerns with earnings from the character and his appearances. Since then, Sony has placed many limitations on Spiderman’s appearances in Marvel movies.

Sophomore Carly McKinney said she is happy with how the character has been portrayed in the past. She also thinks Spiderman was portrayed well despite the limits Marvel was given, because unlike other characters in the MCU, Spiderman’s character is not as ingrained into Sony’s specific universe.

“[Spiderman] is not as immersed as Iron Man because Sony owns him,” McKinney said. “I think that Marvel Studios did a really good job of introducing the character and weaving him into the MCU story with what they were given, though.”

Though he was inserted after the deal was established, Spiderman’s presence in the MCU has still been a monetarily successful addition. The recent film “Spiderman: Homecoming”, was well received, rated at 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. So far, the first two installments have been released. A trilogy had been planned when the deal went through, and therefore it’s creation status is now up in the air. Although Sony may not make a more successful Spiderman 3 than Marvel, McKinney believes they were “justified in their actions.”

With the break, Sony is not allowed to reference major Marvel characters like Tony Stark or Happy Hogan in any way, shape or form–regardless of how much influence they have had on the plot–as two of Peter Parker’s father figures.

Junior Liam Boone feels that Spiderman’s alignment with the MCU had already started to fade after events in “Avengers: Endgame.” According to him, removing the character of Iron Man was only to be expected.

“Spiderman’s only real connection to the rest of the MCU has been through Iron Man,” said Boone. “[Spiderman] almost feels like a spinoff of Iron Man now that Tony Stark is dead.”

However, Boone appreciates the relatability of Spiderman’s “young-character-on-the-cusp-of-adulthood” story, as well as the fact that it has become a coming-of-age story, which he says could make it more popular amongst a younger audience. Boone also remarked on what he thinks is Spiderman’s increased likability.

“I like how comedic [Spiderman] is,” Boone said, “and how relatable some of his problems are, with him portrayed as a high schooler.

The ending of Marvel and Sony’s contract has left a gap to be filled with a new agreement. Sophomore Soren Colfax believes that the terms of negotiations won’t make it easy for a new contract to be created soon.

“5% of input and profit is not enough for Disney, but 50% is far too much,” Colfax said. “I think it will be years before [the contract] is revisited.”

Both Sony’s and Disney’s proposed offers are vastly disproportionate, according to students, and finding a balance will take a while. Colfax doesn’t think that only one party is at fault for the tug of war the deal found itself in.

“I think that both parties are at fault,” Colfax said. “Disney for essentially bullying Sony into a much different price, and Sony for stonewalling any further negotiations over the character.”

Disney was firm on a revised contract that gave them half of any future movie’s profits, but without any deal at all, they technically cannot make any money from Spiderman. Sony did not seem to want Disney to yield this much capital, and because of this, there was no room to budge in the deal.

“It was very upsetting to find out about,” Colfax said. “Especially considering the great potential additions to the MCU, and Sony’s own universe at the same time, that could have been if the deal never collapsed.”

While the current deal is void and no future proceedings have been announced, LASA students believe all hope is not lost. With billions of dollars at stake, plenty of crestfallen fans and a potential Spiderman 3 planned, it’s possible the two companies can come together to put the famous teen superhero back on the big screen.

**Edit: On Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, it was announced that Spiderman would stay within the MCU and that a third Spiderman film starring Tom Holland, co-produced by Marvel and Sony, will come to theaters in July 2021. This story was written, edited and finished before this announcement was made.