The new deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures now includes only two more films. There will be Spider-Man: Homecoming 3, which expires in July 2021 and will end Tom Holland`s Spider-Man trilogy, and another Marvel Mystery movie. Both are produced by Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios. However, the terms of the agreement have changed slightly; It is said that Disney will now receive 25 percent of the profits from Spider-Man: Homecoming 3, but that it should also pay about a quarter of the production costs. Interestingly, Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman — known as the fierce negotiator — had actually offered up to 25 percent and a co-financing deal, but Marvel and Disney were gone. Given that this is the case, it`s hard not to feel like Sony has gained the upper hand in this renegotiation, with Marvel finally signing its proposal. Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have finally struck a new deal to keep Spider-Man in the MCU, and it`s very different from their last one. The past few weeks have been tough for Spider-Man fans, as the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home has been overshadowed by the apparent end of the Marvel/Sony deal. For a short time, it seemed like the wall-crawler was leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe completely. There is a crucial difference between this latest Spider-Man deal and the one that was achieved in 2015.
This initial deal promised a whole series of Spider-Man blockbusters, while this one covers only two films. It`s unclear what Marvel and Sony intend to do once these two films are shot; Will the studios return to the negotiating table or will they find a way to break this partnership? According to his previous agreements, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige will continue to make his production capabilities available for this upcoming Spider-Man movie and Disney will retain the merchandising rights to the character (excluding video game rights that have proven to be very profitable for Sony Interactive with the launch of a very popular Playstation 4 game). Fortunately and despite all the adversity, Marvel and Sony have struck a new deal that keeps Tom Holland`s Spider-Man in the MCU. But there`s a decisive difference between how Marvel and Sony handled this new deal, compared to their original deal. The first agreement, signed in 2015, has been made quite open. Official statements have detailed the implications. Remember, the main reason Disney and Sony decided to break up first on the Spider-Man front was due to disagreements over money, which is hardly unusual in Hollywood. But as Alan Horn explains, when Disney`s Bigwigs and Sony figured out how Marvel fans thought about this separation, they decided it was worth exploring a reconciliation so Spidey could continue operating in the MCU.
The initial agreement included five films. Tom Holland`s Spider-Man was featured in Captain America: Civil War, and then rocked a series of popular and well-received superhero blockbusters: Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Unfortunately, while Hollande has been personally hired for two more films, this seems to have been the end of the old deal between Marvel and Sony. A new deal had to be made to keep Spider-Man in the MCU – and at least for a while it seemed like a distant prospect.