If you missed the news that came out over the summer about Spider-Man, consider yourself lucky. For a few weeks, a breakdown in negotiations between Disney, Marvel, and Sony seemed to threaten the future of the franchise. With different entities owning different parts of the copyrights that pertain to the web-slinging superhero, it was a complicated situation that threatened to derail all plans for any further Spider-Man films in the immediate future.
Fortunately, that situation has now been resolved. Tom Holland may or may not have had to make a tearful phone call to Disney in order to break the deadlock, but all three parties have agreed to get back together to make one more film before the rights have to be looked at again. Holland got his wish, too, because it is understood that he will be back in the spider-suit for a third sequel to ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ which came out in 2017.
Squabbling Studios
It is hard to say exactly what caused the problems in the first place. Although Marvel, Disney, and Sony appear to be three separate entities, in reality, they are only two. Marvel has been a Walt Disney Property since 2009, but thanks to deals done in the past, Sony still owns a portion of the movie rights to the character. Sony wants to start releasing their own Spider-Man movies independently of Disney and Marvel. Disney and Marvel, understandably, want to keep one of their most valuable and recognizable characters under their own banner.
In the court of public opinion, Sony caught most of the blame for the breakdown in communications. They were accused of wanting too large a split of the profits from the next film. That might not be accurate. Disney has been engaging in a series of protectionist moves when it comes to their licensed property recently. Once upon a time, they had a series of slots casino that were based on Marvel characters. There was even a mobile slots game based on Spider-Man himself. Two years ago, Disney abruptly ordered that all the Marvel-themed mobile slots be taken down from the internet. It seemed they were unhappy that other people were profiting from their property. The same may have been true of their view of Sony.
Regardless of the true reasoning, which we will likely never know for sure, the relationship between the companies has been mended well enough to allow them to work together again, and there is a brand new Spider-Man movie on its way to us. All fans of the series will therefore have the same question: when can we expect to see it?
Spider-Man 3
At this point, it is not even clear that a new script has been completed or even begun. Despite that, some outlets are reporting that Spider-Man will be back with us in July 2021. The timing would make some sense; it would be two years to the month after the release of ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home,’ which came two years after the 2017 film. It fits the pattern, but thus far, we don’t have any confirmation. We don’t even know the title.
Tom Holland does seem to know a little about what to expect, though. In a recent interview, he said that the plot for the third movie would be ‘different’ and ‘cooler,’ which is not a great deal of information to go off. It is possible that he is been aware of how the tale is supposed to end for some time; the story of the films was always intended as a trilogy, and the 2019 film ended on a cliffhanger, which will require a resolution. In the continuity of the movies (look away now if you still have not seen ‘Far From Home’) the world now knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. That alone would be a problem, but he is also been framed for a murder that he did not commit. The film will have a lot to wrap up in its running time.
It is also likely, but not confirmed, that Jon Watts will return as both writer and director for the film. Watts has directed both of the previous films and has also shared the writing credits. Given that the story was planned to be told across three parts, it is not outside the realms of possibility that the third script was actually written some time ago, and everybody involved has just been waiting for the green light to press ahead and start making it. That would make a 2021 release feel more plausible — major Marvel pictures take huge amounts of time to make, and even if a script was commissioned immediately, it is doubtful that it could be started, completed, filmed, and edited in time for a blockbuster release in summer 2021.
What About The Sony Side?
Although, they will not object to making money from a third Marvel universe Spider-Man film, the confirmation that there will be another Disney-led Spider-Man movie before they can get their hands on the character will likely be frustrating for Sony, who have been planning for Spider-Man’s arrival under their umbrella for some time.
They clearly have big plans for the character and have slowly been introducing some of his classic foes in other movies. Venom is one, who was played by Tom Hardy in 2018, and he will be coming back for a sequel in 2020. We also know that Jared Leto will be playing Morbius in a film that comes out next year, too. Both are strong characters in their own right, but comic book fans will be keen to see them face off against Spider-Man sooner rather than later.
How do you feel about this? Are you relieved that we are going to get a conclusion to the story that was set up at the end of ‘Far From Home,’ or were you more interested in seeing Spider-Man cross over and do battle with Venom and Morbius instead? Would you like to see Tom Holland continue in the part when Sony takes the reigns from Marvel or do you think it is time for yet another new incarnation of the superhero? As always, let us know your thoughts down in the comments!
