Last week, superhero fans got the newsthey’ve been waiting several years for, withMarvel Studiosand Sony Pictures solidifying a deal that finally bringsSpider-Maninto theMarvel Cinematic Universe. The official announcement revealed that the new Spidey will be introduced in an upcoming Marvel movie, which, according to several different reports isCaptain America: Civil War, before a brand new stand aloneSpider-Manadventure, produced by Marvel’sKevin Feigeand Sony’sAmy Pascal, which is set for release on August 17, 2025.
As you may well know, late last year, when thousands of internal documents were leaked from the Sony hack, some of those documents gave us a glimpse into Sony’s plans for the web-crawler, which are well worth examining once more, now that the deal has gone through after several months of negotiations. While some of these details have since been confirmed others have not, so we’ll have to wait and see how Sony/Marvel’s deal pans out for both companies before we know more. Until then, let’s take a look at the details uncovered late last year from the Sony hack.
AreJoe RussoandAnthony RussoProducingSpider-Man?
One of the more intriguing elements of the Sony hack were emails betweenCaptain America: Civil WardirectorsJoe RussoandAnthony RussoandAmy Pascal, where the filmmakers offered to produce a newSpider-Manmovie. Marvel and Sony’s official announcement only listedKevin FeigeandAmy Pascalas producers on the new stand alone reboot, but since the new Spider-Man will likely debut inCaptain America: Civil War, it certainly would make sense that the Russos would produce as well. This has not been confirmed yet, but it does lead to or next item on the list, which has been…
The Amazing Spider-ManProducersAvi AradandMatthew TolmachAre Out
Shortly after the official Marvel/Sony/Spidey announcement, several reports confirmed thatThe Amazing Spider-ManandThe Amazing Spider-Man 2producersAvi AradandMatthew Tolmachwere “demoted” to executive producers on the newSpider-Manmovie, meaning they no longer have any creative say in the franchise’s direction. One of the Russo brothers emails to Pascal hinted that “a difficult conversation” would have to ensue withAvi AradandMatthew Tolmach, who, along with directorMarc Webb, were the primary architects ofThe Amazing Spider-Manfranchise.Marc Webbis also gone, along with starAndrew Garfield. It seems the “difficult conversation” has already happened, withAvi AradandMatthew Tolmachnow essentially gone, but we’ll have to wait and see if this paves the way for the Russo’s to come on board. Then again,Kevin Feigewill essentially be representing Marvel as producer on the new Spidey adventure, so the Russos may not be needed.
A New Spider-Man Trilogy?
One of the Sony hack reports revealed that Sony wanted to develop a whole newSpider-Mantrilogy, making this the third reboot of the beloved character, followingSam Raimi’s originalSpider-Mantrilogy and the twoAmazing Spider-Manmovies. The official announcement only said there was one newSpider-Manmovie in the works, but, naturally, if that actually succeeds at the box office, Sony will surely put new Spidey adventures in their theatrical pipeline, so they can continue retaining the full rights to this beloved character. At this time, though, the trilogy has yet to be confirmed.
Spider-Man Will Only Have a Cameo InCaptain America: Civil War
Marvel had been trying to secure Spider-Man forCaptain America: Civil Warfor quite some time before the deal was announced, so the character might have a larger role in thePhase Threesequel. Even though production hasn’t started yet onCaptain America: Civil War, shooting is expected to begin later this year. Emails between Sony executives revealed the web-slinger would only have a cameo inCaptain America: Civil War, and there was also talk that he would appear inThe Sinister Six. That spin-off was set for a November 2016 release, but has now been put back into development, so it isn’t known when that movie may hit theaters.
How Will Spidey Fit Into the MCU?
Even though Spider-Man will likely make his debut inCaptain America: Civil War, leaked emails revealed that Sony didn’t want their new stand alone adventure to be a direct follow-up to that movie. However, executives did state in leaked emails that Spidey would still exist in the same world asCaptain America: Civil War, where characters are divided over the Superhero Registration Act. According to more leaked emails, Spider-Man’s appearance inCaptain America: Civil Warinvolves him meeting Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), with Iron Man giving Spidey the Iron Spider costume from the Civil War comic book. It is assumed that this same costume will be used in the 2017 Spider-Man movie, hence connecting both worlds even more.
Sam RaimiWas Approached To Come Back
After the critical and financial failure ofThe Amazing Spider-Man 2,Amy Pascal, who at the time was running Sony Pictures before she left to produce the new Spider-Man movie, approachedSam Raimito either direct or produce the stand alone movie. It was never confirmed if he is coming back, but the filmmaker recently expressed his displeasure with the studio in an interview, so it doesn’t seem likely that this will happen.
Drew GoddardEyed To DirectSpider-Man
Spider-Mancurrently doesn’t have a director attached, but leaked emails revealed that Sony was seeking a deal forDrew Goddardto both write and direct the new adventure. He is currently attached to write and directThe Sinister Sixspinoff, but it isn’t clear when that may actually see the light of day at this point. It’s worth noting that the filmmaker actually left another Marvel project, the Netflix TV seriesMarvel’s Daredevil, to work onThe Sinister Six, but now that has been put on the back-burner. We’ll have to wait and see ifDrew Goddardwill in fact write and direct the new Spider-Man, but it seems that, at one point, he was the studio’s top choice.
Spider-Man Almost Didn’t Go Back to High School
Several reports from earlier this week confirmed thatSpider-Manwill go back to high school as a Midtown High student, but, at one point, Sony was considering making Spider-Man an adult. It seems this isn’t happening any more, since the producers reportedly want to focus more on his life as a student, and the awkward relationships he forms at Midtown before becoming a crime-fighter.
Kraven the Hunter May Be The First Villain
One of the leaked emails suggested that the comic bookKraven’s Last Huntwould be a potential story line used in theSpider-Manreboot, but that has yet to be confirmed. Kraven is thought to be one of the villains inThe Sinister Sixspinoff, but we’re not sure if that lineup has been finalized yet.
Spider-Man May Appear inAvengers: Infinity War
The Marvel/Sony announcement only said that Spider-Man will be introduced in one Marvel movie (likelyCaptain America: Civil War), with the Sony stand alone movie to hit theaters in July 2017. While it was confirmed that Sony still retains all distribution rights and creative control of Spider-Man, there were also reports that Spider-Man may appear inAvengers: Infinity War Part 1andAvengers: Infinity War Part 2. It seems that Marvel wanted Sony to guarantee that the second Spider-Man movie be released in 2019, because Marvel didn’t want there to be too long of a delay between the stand alone movie and its sequel.
