A little more than a month ago, we, and basically every other internet site with even a bit of a nerdy bend, broke the news that Sony and Disney were going through a messy breakup that left Spider-man outside the rest of the MCU. Given that they’d just released a great movie, and have positioned Peter as the new center of the MCU going forward, it was a pretty big blow. There was also the matter of a pretty significant “what the -” at the end of Far From Home, and it would be a shame to leave that unfulfilled going forward.
Luckily, it looks like Sony and Disney have made up and agreed to at least one more full feature and another appearance (likely a new Avengers movie, but it’s only listed as “future movie” in the announcement). Reportedly, Disney’s take goes up to 25%, they retain their merchandising rights for it, but also start to pony up 25% of the financing backing (which, when you’re talking films that run into the hundreds of millions, is a significant bit of pocket change).
The whole mess still feels like it was a fight between two villains, it’s just that one of them made something we like a lot more than the other. Neither one was exactly justified in what they wanted, and neither one had the high ground. That aside, it’s nice to know that we get a bit more, and I’m hoping that they can get more of a long-term partnership in the future to keep the character around throughout the new phases.
