Will Spiderman return to Marvel Studios?

Spiderman. Arguably Marvel's most iconic superhero. For years the film rights have been in the possession of Sony, who have made 5 films around him in the last 12 years, meaning that Spidey has been unable to join the ranks of the Avengers alongside Iron Man and Captain America for legal reasons. Should Spiderman return to Marvel?

Yes he should in my opinion. Will he though? It's unlikely at the moment, albeit more likely than ever with supposed details released via the "Sony hacks" that the 2 studios are negotiating a deal, which could see them share the rights the character.

A studio's goal is to make as much money as possible. The Amazing Spiderman 2, considered a box office flop as the opening movie of the summer, has grossed $708.9 million at the box office. That's still a lot of money. Regardless of how many fans/critics hated it, it still grossed a shit-tonne of money and that can only benefit Sony.

Would a sharing agreement work in my opinion? No. Having 2 different Peter Parker's in 2 different franchises and 2 different movie universes would not work in all honesty. I can't see it. So, will Sony give Spiderman back to Marvel? I still doubt it. But it is something I want to see happen. Marvel can make the Guardians of the Galaxy the highest grossing movie of summer and has plans for more obscure/lesser known superheroes like Doctor Strange and the Inhumans. They can make any property successful, so who wouldn't want to see one of Marvel's chief characters back in the hands of the hottest studio in Hollywood?

So we've established it is very unlikely to happen, but what if it did? Who would play Spidey? According to the evidence in the "Sony hacks", if Marvel gained the rights to the character they would not cast Andrew Garfield as the title character. Andrew Garfield's performances in the Amazing Spiderman films is the best thing about them, however if Marvel wanted to reboot the character then any ties to a continuity which they're trying to forget about should be removed. Finding a replacement makes sense.

If he did appear in the MCU before the end of Avengers Infinity War part 2, I would expect him to appear as a supporting character, possibly in a glorified cameo. Phase 4 would probably be a good time to have the first Spiderman film, and have him team up with the new Avengers in future instalments.

But the real question here is should Marvel really go out to get the Spiderman film rights back? Shouldn't they just give other characters like Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel a chance? Of course they should go out to get him! Sony hasn't got a clue what they're doing with him! They don't have a smidgen of a plan. Sinister Six? Venom? A Female led solo Spiderman film? Amazing Spiderman 3? Can you honestly see all of this actually coming to fruition? Me neither.

I have no idea what they're doing with the character... and neither do they! Should Marvel get the rights to Spiderman, you can guarantee they would have good and secure plans for the character. While a rebooted franchise under Marvel's wing is an unlikely fantasy that will never happen, I really hope Marvel go for it if they get the chance.


Thanks for reading,
Matt