Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2015
A few days ago, Marvel Entertainment confirmed that the Walt Disney Studios (“Disney”) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (“Sony”) reached an agreement to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (“MCU”).[1] Sony has held the rights to the Spider-Man character since 1999,[2] and this new agreement means that actor Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man storyline will be cast away in order to reboot the series for MCU continuity.[3] Marvel executive Kevin Feige will produce the next installment of the $4 billion Spider-Man franchise.[4] Feige will team up with Amy Pascal, who is set to co-produce after she leaves her position as Sony’s motion picture group chairwoman in May 2015.[5]
The details of the deal have not been released from a reliable source, so it is unclear if Marvel managed to terminate its previous contract with Sony, or if Marvel and Sony negotiated a new contract, superseding the terms they were previously bound to. The latter is more likely. It is also unclear as to whether incorporating Spider-Man into the Avengers storyline means classic villains like the Green Goblin or Venom will appear in the Spider-Man movies, or even The Avengers movies, as well.[6] It is known that Sony will move forward with Sinister Six and Venom, two films that prominently feature Marvel villains.[7]
Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox (“Fox”) still owns the rights to the X-Men franchise, barring the Avengers from fully assembling until Disney can strike a deal. Even if a deal is made soon enough to include X-Men characters in the current MCU, the X-Men storyline created by Fox will likely need to be rebooted in order to seamlessly integrate the characters into Civil War and Infinity War.
For a timeline of the MCU Phase Three plans, check out http://comicbook.com/2014/11/17/marvel-released-official-marvel-cinematic-universe-phase-3-timel/ (although, this could all change with the addition of Spider-Man).