In the wake of the Wonder Woman box office tsunami, eyes are beginning to turn to the next Superhero movie flick heading to box offices. On the docket, the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first solo webslinger flick within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, like any good Marvel movie, fans aren’t content on just enjoying a new Spider-Man movie. Instead, we are forced to look to the future and how Homecoming will tie into future features, such as next year’s Infinity War. However, now there are new questions about how Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker may inject himself into Sony Pictures’ new ‘Spider-verse’ line of films.
Spider-Man has been at the forefront of all superhero cinema discussions since the joint custody agreement between Sony and Marvel Studios was first revealed. After his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, the anticipation of Spider-Man continuing his adventures with The Avengers (plus his solo Homecoming films) was a dream come true. However, Sony Pictures then delivered a curveball with the revelation that they were producing two separate Spider-Man centered movies.
The first, a rated-R Venom film with Tom Hardy taking over the role of Eddie Brock. The second? AÂ Black Cat/Silver Sable team up movie. Unfortunately, any dreams of seeing the symbiote go up against other Avengers, or seeing Black Cat alongside Black Widow, have been repeatedly squashed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige who, as recently as last week, reiterated that those movies are a “Sony Project” and any events in hose films will not reverberate within the MCU.
So, leave it to Sony Pictures Executive Amy Pascal to not only add fuel to the fire, but to crash a fully loaded oil tanker into a burning man effigy. During a press junket for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pascal was sitting right next to Feige when she dropped a massive bombshell.
[BREAKING NEWS] Amy Pascal confirm Black Cat and Vanom movie will pass in the same universe of “Spider-Man: Homecoming pic.twitter.com/qfAKOulqwE
— Tom Holland Updates (@tomhupdates) June 18, 2017
Wait. What? Black Cat, Silver Sable and (most importantly) Venom will exist in the realm of Tom Holland? This leads to so many new questions: did Pascal mean to drop this tidbit, or did it slip out? If it was an accident, then is the MCU actually involved and Feige has been trying to keep a lid on things until a big reveal moment at an event like Comic-Con or D-23? Could this whole ‘Spider-verse’ be an extension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? WE NEED ANSWERS!!!
Answering those questions is enough content for another article, so we’ll put a pin in that for later. Right now, the only thing worth focusing on is that the new Sony Pictures Spider-Man movies will tie into the MCU world. At the very least, that would seemingly allow for Tom Holland to show up as everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, allowing him to serve as a linchpin for the two studios. If that’s the case, it could be the best-case scenario for both parties involved.
Imagine Sony pictures being able to crank out one separate Spider-Man movie a year. Then, whenever a new Avengers movie is being released — or a solo MCU project needs a certain web-slinger — Peter Parker’s services can be made available as needed. As long as Sony Pictures has conversations with Marvel Studios to keep the universe in congruenc, it could be the most beneficial use of the Spider-Man character (that is, as long as Tom Holland doesn’t get burned out from popping up in several Marvel movies annually).
Sure, we would get Spider-Man overload, but considering it’s one of the most popular franchises in the world, I don’t think fans will complain all that much. As long as the movies are good (again, that’s a whole other debate), fans should be thrilled that these separate Sony Pictures Spidey flicks could still tie into other MCU events.
There’s also future potential for possible Sony/Marvel team-ups.
File this under the “no-duh” section, but Spider-Man: Homecoming could make a lot of money for both Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.
With cash ruling everything, Sony and Marvel may look for future collaborations in regard to the Spider-Man Universe (as long as both parties are collecting a substantial profit). Perhaps it includes that dream of a Venom MCU appearance, or how about an Avengers movie pitting The Avengers against The Sinister Six? Feige and Pascal seemed to get along great during their Homecoming discussions, so let’s hope that this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership.
Now, I cannot, in good conscious, talk about the positives without discussing the negatives.
The biggest problem is the most obvious: what if Tom Holland appears, but the Sony Pictures movies have absolutely nothing to do with any MCU activities despite existing in the same world? Then you end up with a X-Men Origins: Wolverine situation where you have to either pretend those movies never happened, or bring it up in other movies and try to retroactively correct things. It’s definitely an option and something that could totally happen with Sony Pictures.
However, I like to believe the studio learned from their Amazing Spider-Man fiasco and will lean on Marvel Studios for advice on how to integrate Peter Parker while still creating their own distinct Universe.
It’s just another interesting development in the world of Spider-Man. This July, we will see if Tom Holland can properly carry the mantle and build off his amazing performance from Civil War (all bets should be on ‘absolutely’). Then, let’s see if this is just the beginning of something greater.
Could we see Venom/Black Cat/Silver Sable exist slightly to the left of the MCU (kind of like the Netflix shows)? Or, will Pascal morph into a modern Icarus with a similar descent on the horizon?
