The deal that helped send Spider-Man back to Marvel (or, officially to Marvel for the first time) raised a lot of hope and awareness… but also, a lot of questions. The wall-crawler had been a major player in Sony’s superhero game. Now that they are lending Peter Parker to Marvel for a Civil War cameo and an eventual solo movie, how would that work out? Would Spider-Man: Homecoming be a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie? Or a Sony movie that Marvel is somehow overseeing?
The man with the answer to that riddle, naturally, is Marvel President Kevin Feige, who holds the cards – and the keys – to the MCU and helps guide each project through development. As Feige made the rounds to help promote Captain America: Civil War, he spoke with HeyUGuys about Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the amount of feedback Marvel will have in next year’s solo Spidey movie. Feige said:
I’ve known all those people for a very long time. Amy Pascal, Tom Rothman, who runs Sony now, I’ve known for years. So, it’s been great. They really are supportive in allowing us to make the creative decisions to make [Spider-Man: Homecoming], but they’ve been great partners. So far so good on that movie."
The emphasis there is "allowing us to make creative decisions." Which essentially takes the ball out of Sony’s court, and bounces it right over to Marvel. Which, if you are a massive fan of what Marvel has accomplished over more than a dozen movies in the MCU, will make you feel relieved beyond comprehension. There’s only one real way for this unique partnership to work. Marvel and Sony have to wipe clean the slate that included the two Marc Webb Amazing Spider-Man movies, and begin to work Tom Holland’s new Spider-Man into what already exists in the MCU.
And by every indication, that’s what’s happening. Spider-Man makes his debut in Captain America: Civil War, and from what we can tell, will be recruited into the universe by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). In the latest TV spot for the Cap sequel, we saw Spider-Man in action, battling with The Winter Soldier. See that footage here:
And, as we reported earlier, Downey Jr. will reappear in Spider-Man: Homecoming, continuing to make connections between this solo Spidey movie and the action happening in the other Marvel movies. This also means that going forward, with Marvel making the creative decisions, it will be easier to work Spider-Man into movies like Doctor Strange, Black Panther of, of course, the two Avengers: Infinity War movies. If Marvel has control, they are more free to do as they see fit for the character.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theaters on July 7, 2017. And it will be a Marvel movie, tried and true. Are you excited?
