Sony
Amy Pascal is out at Sony. That means the biggest (or at least one of the biggest) cheerleaders for pushing forward with a Spider-Man expansion is gone. The new motion picture chairperson will have the responsibility of forging a future for their biggest potential intellectual property, and it’s possible that negotiations with Marvel will re-open.
Relinquishing control of the character back to his ancestral home is what 99.9% of fans want, but it’s also a truly bad business move for a studio without many blockbuster options right now. It would also be, at a fundamental level, an admission that they can’t squeeze money out of an ATM.
At the same time, they haven’t been able to capitalize they way they should, specifically because the new Amazing Spider-Man movies have been unfocused, committee-built stallions (the tail doesn’t go there) that fans can’t get behind. Or at least a multitude of fans can’t get behind.
Speculation is the name of the game now. No one knows for sure what’s going to happen to the property, although there’s a 70% chance that the Sinister Six and Expansion Pack movies are going to hit the gutter. At the very least, releasing Sinister Six in November 2016 looks like a pipe dream.
Beyond that, there are two main paths for the character which helped launch the modern comic book movie explosion in earnest.
- Sony finds a fresh voice that they feel comfortable giving more control to in order to inject the character with new life.
- Sony sells him back to Marvel for a percentage of the MCU mint.
If it’s the first option, I wish Sony all the luck in the world in going up against a hostile fandom, remembering that they managed to facilitate two excellent Spidey adventures (including one of the best superhero movies of all time) alongside two mediocre outings and a disastrous clown car. The bell curve is in place, and a fresh start can mean a lot for a tired character.
If it’s the second option, there’s little doubt that Marvel will fully embrace the character, making new movies with him that don’t look much like the ones we’re used to. They’ll look more Marvel-y.
Plus, if he goes to Marvel we might get, oh god, another origin story.
On the other hand, Marvel has their roster figured out through 2019. If Spider-Man makes an appearance in Infinity War Part 1 in 2018, there’s a chance that they could utilize him in a stand-alone film the following year where Infinity War Part 2 is the only thing currently announced.
If Sony sells him back to Marvel, it’s easy to imagine them being keen on working out Spidey having his own movie as soon as possible. Which is four years from now. So, keep that in mind.
Whatever the case, we’re not likely to hear anything about it for a while. Months at least, maybe until next year.
Which is the funniest part of all of this. Even if Sony holds onto the rights, maybe we all need a little time without the character for Spider-Man to really thrive. Maybe what the character needs to be a hit-maker again is a little time off.
Related Topics: Spider-Man
