“I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark” has a whole new meaning.
On Aug. 20, film news site Deadline reported that Disney and Sony were unable to reach a financial agreement on the deal that enabled Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Fans were absolutely shocked to find out Holland’s critically acclaimed portrayal of Spider-Man would no longer be a part of the MCU narrative, a series of films that share familiar Marvel characters, story lines and settings.
Since that deal, two Spider-Man MCU films have been made, with the hero also appearing in “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and “Avengers: Endgame.” All of these films have had great success at the box office, with recent sequel “Spider-Man: Far From Home” garnering over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, according to Variety.
The great success of Holland’s interpretation of the character might cause fans to wonder what could lead to such a falling out.
Here’s what happened.
According to Deadline, Disney asked Sony for a new 50/50 cofinancing deal for future “Spider-Man” movies. Originally, Disney was only receiving about 5% of first dollar gross from these films per a deal worked out in 2015. Disney requested to receive 50% of these earnings, a 45% increase from their original cut.
Evidently, Sony refused to agree to this deal and instead suggested several undisclosed alternative deals that wouldn’t result in the loss of nearly half of their ownership of Spider-Man. Disney refused to take anything lower than a 50% cut, leaving the two companies in a corporate stalemate. As a result, Disney cut ties with Sony’s Spider-Man property.
“We are disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision not to have (Kevin Feige) continue as a lead producer of our next live action Spider-Man film,” Sony said in a statement on Twitter.
Additionally, on Aug. 24, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige explained to Entertainment Weekly that the studio never anticipated holding the rights to Spider-Man forever and that incorporating him into their cinematic universe was an ambitious goal.
“It was a dream that I never thought would happen,” Feige said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “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.”
Despite Sony regaining complete control of the Spider-Man films, Holland is still contracted to return as the character in the future. Unless a new deal is struck between Sony and Disney, these new films will not be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Holland said he was grateful to be play the character in the first place.
“I’m going to continue playing Spider-Man and having the time of my life,” Holland said. “The future for Spider-Man will be different, but it will be equally as awesome and amazing, and we’ll find new ways to make it even cooler.”
