14 DAY TRIAL // The other day, Marvel Pictures and Sony announced that Spider-Man, once the biggest superhero franchise in town, would be moving to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that a first appearance of the web-slinger would come before the July 28, 2017 film release date, in a Marvel superhero pic.
Details of the deal weren’t disclosed, of course. However, the statement, which you can also find in its entirety below, did make it clear that, even though it would be Marvel bringing back Spider-Man into theaters, this would still be a Sony production.
So, considering that Marvel repeatedly offered Sony billions of dollars for this franchise, do you wonder how much money exchanged hands with this new deal?
Spider-Man was free of charge
Sony could have sold the franchise to Marvel because there was no way it could have continued with it, not after the 2 lackluster “Amazing Spider-Man” films and not owning rights to the merchandise, which are still Marvel property, and particularly not after last year’s Sony Hack.
Sony Co-Chairwoman Amy Pascal, who was the biggest champion for the “Amazing Spider-Man” franchise, stepped down from this position and will start work at her own production company, also within Sony.
It seems that she came up with the perfect solution to save Spider-Man and turn it into the profitable franchise it’s always been: this partnership with Marvel, which allows Marvel to reinvent / reboot the franchise, but leaves the final say on the matter to Sony.
This way, The Hollywood Reporter points out, by rebooting the franchise, Marvel gets to make a killing off merchandise and the film, while Sony gets its successful superhero franchise.
“Sony would never have made this deal if they still retained the merchandising rights. Even a poorly performing movie could be saved by strong merchandise sales, and Spider-Man is one of the bigger brands out there,” a producer in the comic book field explains for the trade publication.
A win-win deal, but fans win too
When Sony announced the reboot “The Amazing Spider-Man,” fans were up in arms because they felt it came too soon after the original trilogy from Sam Raimi. Reboots are almost always received with mild interest and a good dose of skepticism, but “Spider-Man” was the exception: people simply hated the idea.
Still, the first two films were received with praise by critics and the fans, even though they never managed to achieve total blockbuster status like some of its direct rivals, Marvel productions like “Iron Man,” “Thor” or “Captain America.” The ensemble franchise “The Avengers” is so insanely successful that it’s entirely in a league of its own, at least for the time being.
So by having Marvel and Sony team up on this, we’re actually getting the best of both worlds: we will have a beloved superhero appear again in its own franchise, with Marvel at the helm but with Sony calling the shots on the general direction of the project. These days, everything that Marvel touches turns into gold, so fans assume Spidey too will be a smashing hit.
As of the time of writing, we’re still in the dark as to who might take over from Andrew Garfield, who played Peter Parker in the two “Amazing” films, but word online has it the studio wants someone younger than 31 this time.
Rumors also say that the new Spider-Man will most likely get a cameo in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” or “Captain America: Civil War.”