Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have finally reached a new deal to keep Spider-Man: Far From Home overshadowed by the apparent end of the Marvel/Sony agreement. For a short time, it seemed as though the wall-crawler was fated to leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe altogether.
Fortunately, and against all the odds, Marvel and Sony reached a new agreement that's keeping Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU. But there's a key difference between the way Marvel and Sony have handled this new deal to their original one. The first agreement, which was signed up in 2015, was done pretty much out in the open. The official statements spelled out its implications in detail.
In contrast, this time round, the press release from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures is a lot more secretive. It perhaps partly reflects the fact that the original Marvel/Sony deal was done in the wake of a major hack, meaning drafts of the contract were actually in the public domain back then. Meanwhile, Marvel Studios has become increasingly secretive; gone are the days when the studio would announce five years of films at a time. All this naturally means that this new Spider-Man agreement is a lot more mysterious.
Sony & Marvel's Original Spider-Man Deal
The original Spider-Man deal was initiated back in 2014, in the aftermath of the poor critical and box office reception of Sony's Sony would be the ones who profited from their success. Marvel would only receive 5 percent of the profits, but in return they would also be able to use this new version of the wall-crawler as a character in some of their own films. Sony initially rejected the offer, but a high-profile hack in late 2014 exposed behind-the-scenes confusion over just what to do with Spider-Man, and shareholders are believed to have forced the studio to return to the negotiating table in early 2015.
The original deal covered five films. Tom Holland's Spider-Man was introduced in Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Unfortunately, while Holland was personally signed up for another two movies, that seems to have been the end of the old deal between Marvel and Sony. A new agreement needed to be reached in order to keep Spider-Man in the MCU - and, for a while at least, that appeared to be a remote prospect.
The New Spider-Man Deal
The new deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures only covers two more films. There'll be offered up to 25 percent and a co-financing agreement, but that Marvel and Disney had walked away. Given that's the case, it's hard not to get the impression that Sony came out on top in this renegotiation, with Marvel ultimately g up to their proposal.
Meanwhile, there's some evidence that Sony retains a level of access to Tom Holland's Spider-Man themselves under the of this new deal. Sony has always wanted to find a way to incorporate Spider-Man in their developing villains universe, which kicked off with Spider-Man will Sony's villains universe as well, although at this stage no details have been made public.
What Comes When This Deal Runs Out?
There's a crucial difference between this latest Spider-Man deal and the one reached in 2015. That original agreement promised an entire range of Spider-Man blockbusters, whereas this one covers only two films. It's unclear what Marvel and Sony intend once those two movies have been made; will the studios return to the negotiating table, or are they finding a way to wind this partnership down?
There have been unsubstantiated reports that the latter may be the case, and that post-credits cliffhanger of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
