He's baaaaack. Tom Holland's Spider-Man is back in the MCU, and it's almost like he never left. Because Spidey never did leave the MCU, in terms of missing any Marvel Studios movies. He is NOT leaving. That's how Holland put it himself -- or how he let Leonardo DiCaprio's Wolf of Wall Street character put it -- in the perfect post he shared in reaction to the big Marvel/Sony reunion news:
That's right. He's not leaving. He's not fucking leaving! The show goes on! Tom Holland's Spider-Man co-star Zendaya also shared her joy at the news:
The Sony/Marvel split only happened a month ago, not long after Spider-Man: Far From Home became Sony's top-grossing movie ever. Now it's September and Mom and Dad are back together again, or at least announcing a very specific joint custody agreement for Tom Holland's Spider-Man 3 and one other MCU movie before Spidey apparently swings off to join Venom in Sony's Marvel Universe.
Shortly after the Sony/Marvel split was announced, Tom Holland shared a statement, saying Spider-Man would be different, but he still planned to play the character either way. He was hopeful that Sony would still make some great movies, maybe even better ones that Holland had enjoyed in the MCU.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige was at the heart of negotiations, and he also shared his own statement after the sad split news first came out. He said the Sony deal wasn't meant to last forever, and they got five great MCU movies out of the partnership. The Russo Brothers -- who directed Holland's Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame -- weren't surprised by the split, since it apparently took a lot of work for them to get Sony to hand over Spider-Man for the deal.
Fans and filmmakers all took sides in the Disney/Marvel vs. Sony split, with a former Spider-Man writer speaking up with surprise at how so many fans were passionately defending Disney as if the studio were some "plucky underdog." Joe Russo, however, felt it was a "tragic mistake" for Sony to allow Spider-Man to leave the care of MCU architect Kevin Feige. Sony seemed to think it could make fine Spider-Man films without Feige, but now Feige is back in the fold.
It'll be interesting to hear how the deal was salvaged. Did Sony have to give in? For the moment, most fans seem happy with the news, although there were a few fans who were fine with seeing Disney lose a battle for once. It's not like Sony didn't know how to make Spider-Man movies. The good news of this compromise is that both Sony and Marvel Studios will be able to make future Spider-Man movies with Tom Holland.
And Tom Holland seems very happy about that. His co-stars are happy too. And MCU fans are ecstatic. Of course, the balloon will pop if Spider-Man 3 isn't great and Spider-Man's future MCU appearance isn't what fans hoped for. But today, it's a win.
