Marvel Cinematic Universe director Joe Russo says Sony made a big and tragic mistake with the Spider-Man deal. Now Spidey is out of the MCU and Russo is pretty sure the character will suffer for it.
Granted, Joe Russo is biased as a part of the Marvel Studios family, after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. But considering the Russo Brothers' success with all of those films, and specifically with the use of Spider-Man from Civil War to Endgame, he does know what it takes to make a great superhero movie.
You know talks have fallen apart between Disney/Marvel and Sony over sharing Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man. Apparently the break was at least in part over a co-financing arrangement, and now Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is no longer producing Spider-Man films. Sony's CEO said the door is closed, for now, so that's that. Spidey is out of the MCU.
The Russo Brothers previously said they weren't surprised the deal fell apart, but Joe Russo added even darker thoughts in a new talk with the Toronto Sun:
It was a tenuous, fraught union throughout the whole process. But, I will say, stepping back and trying to be objective as possible, that I think it’s a tragic mistake on Sony’s part to think that they can replicate Kevin’s penchant for telling incredible stories and the amazing success he has had over the years. I think it’s a big mistake.
Big mistake. Huge. Pretty Woman-style. You can't put a price on quality. But if you did, you might mention people are almost always willing to pay more than $1 billion for it, and sometimes over $2B, and in one case more than anything else in the world.
From Joe Russo's perspective, Sony is underestimating the loss of MCU architect Kevin Feige as the rug tying this stunning and wildly successful room together. Sony seems to think it has a team strong enough to give Tom Holland's Spider-Man stories just as impressive as anything we've seen so far in the MCU.
Anthony Russo also talked to the Toronto Sun about losing Spider-Man in the MCU, echoing what he and Joe had previously told The Daily Beast about not being surprised that the deal fell apart. He noted how hard it was to get Spider-Man into Captain America: Civil War in the first place. He was impressed Kevin Feige pulled it off, and they had a "wonderful experience" sharing Spider-Man with Sony for a few films.
Kevin Feige also weighed in himself after the news of the Sony/Marvel split started spreading:
I’m feeling about Spider-Man gratitude and joy. We got to make five films within the MCU with Spider-Man: two standalone films and three with the Avengers. It was a dream that I never thought would happen. It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we’d be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I’ll always be thankful for that.
Tom Holland said something similar in his own statement to EW, saying he had the time of his life making five great movies. He plans to continue playing Spider-Man, and even though the future for the character will be different now, "it will be equally as awesome and amazing, and we’ll find new ways to make it even cooler."
Yes, Tom Holland thinks Spider-Man's films can get bigger and better from here. MCU fans have not taken the loss of Holland's Spider-Man as well. Some fans are planning a protest on Sony's lot. Others are laying the blame at Disney's and Kevin Feige's feet for being "greedy." For now, we'll have to wait and see what Sony plans to do with Spider-Man as it moves forward with Tom Hardy's Venom sequel.
What do you think? Which company -- Sony or Disney/Marvel -- made the "tragic mistake" to not compromise more over Spider-Man in the MCU?
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