Sony and Walt Disney announced on Friday that Marvel Studios led by President Kevin Feige will produce a third film in Spider-Man: Homecoming series. The film will star Tom Holland and is scheduled for release on July 16, 2021.
As part of the arrangement, Spider-Man will also appear in future Marvel Studios films, according to the press release.
“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,” said Feige in the statement.
“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.”
The update comes a month after Deadline first reported that Disney and Sony Pictures decided to split in August. The two companies were not able to reach an agreement that would have given new terms to a co-financing stake between the two studios.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed as representatives for Sony and Marvel did not respond immediately to newsmen’s request.
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Disney had reportedly proposed a 50/50 co-financing deal in August, meaning each company would put up half of the production costs and then split the profits. Sony had reportedly refused.
Due to this disagreement, Spider-Man was no longer part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which quickly caused a frenzy among devoted fans on social media.
With a superhero as important as Spider-Man, it had seemed out of character for Feige and Disney to bow out of a deal with Sony. Much of the plot of “Spider-Man: Far From Home” revolved around Peter Parker dealing with the death of his mentor Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, and figuring out what kind of hero he was going to be. His growth as a character was a set up for future films in the franchise.
Feige has had an incredible run of hits as the head of Marvel, including four of the top 10 movies in the U.S. and globally of all time. Not to mention, “Avengers: Endgame” is currently the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Since releasing its first Disney-produced Marvel movie in 2012, the company has earned more than $18.2 billion at the global box office.
Samson Oyedeyi
