Spider-Man dispute
Sony Pictures and Disney are set to part ways.
This means that Spider-Man will no longer be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Sony bought the rights to the superhero in 1999.
Since then we've had five Sony-only Spider-Man movies.
Three with Tobey Maguire and two starring Andrew Garfield.
In 2015 the entertainment company signed a deal with Disney who own Marvel Studios.
This deal saw Tom Holland brought on as Spider-Man.
He starred in two standalone movies and appeared alongside the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
However, it's now unlikely that Tom Holland's Spider-Man will pop up in any more Marvel movies.
Why have Sony and Disney split?
It seems the split has happened for two reasons:
1. Money
The Guardian reports that Disney demanded all future Spider-Man movies to be funded by both companies.
Meanwhile Sony wanted to stick to the original agreement, which entitled Marvel to less revenue generated.
2. Kevin Feige
Disney also proposed to scale back on Kevin Feige's involvement in future Spider-Man movies.
Kevin Feige is an American movie producer and the president of Marvel Studios.
He's been heavily involved in all Marvel movies, including Spider-Man, since 2008.
However, now that Disney has announced a streaming service with lots of Marvel TV shows on the way, Feige's time is precious.
Hollywood reacts
The news has come as quite a shock to Hollywood considering the success of Holland's first two Spider-Man movies.
Spider-Man: Homecoming grossed over $880 million worldwide while Spider-Man: Far From Home made $1.1 billion.
Far From Home is the first Spider-Man film to pass the billion-dollar mark and the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time!
Sony Pictures took to Twitter this morning to express their disappointment.
Much of today’s news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions about Kevin Feige’s involvement in the franchise. We are disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live action Spider-Man film. (1/3)
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) August 21, 2019
We hope this might change in the future, but understand that the many new responsibilities that Disney has given him – including all their newly added Marvel properties – do not allow time for him to work on IP they do not own. (2/3)
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) August 21, 2019
Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue. (3/3)
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) August 21, 2019
Jeremy Renner posted a plea to Sony Pictures on his Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram
And Ryan Reynolds got involved when he responded to a fan's tweet for a Deadpool/Spider-Man crossover movie.
Can we get a Spiderman & Deadpool movie now @VancityReynolds @TomHolland1996
— Angel Hernandez (@ChaoticKing_) August 20, 2019
You can. But you can only see it in my heart.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 20, 2019
Tom Holland, Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios and Disney are yet to comment.
