Very early today, Marvel announced what many people considered was the impossible: Spider-Man would be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment. There were rumours of discussions during last year's Sony hacks (which I discussed here), with some statements about talks falling through now appearing to be false. The Amazing run is now over, with a brand new iteration scheduled for an appearance some time in 2016/17 before making his own theatrical appearance on July 17th 2017. This is far from bad news, as fans have been clamouring for such a team up for quite some time, but does come across as more of a silver lining to something potentially worse?
A lot of fans are upset by the loss of Andrew Garfield in the role - which he'll have to sacrifice in order for the character to start afresh. And understandable, for he was charming in the role, even if he didn't exactly match the characteristics of alter ego Peter Parker. And as for someone who wanted so much to be in the role, that conviction is present in his performance. The only problem was that the scripts weren't in the same boat. The first film was good, there's no denying that even with its reattempt at a origin story and baiting sequels a little too hard. The recent sequel however pushed those bad points to the point that they were the most notable things of it; too much sequel baiting, too much focus on the mystery of Parker's parents and a terrible screenplay by some of the worst writers currently in the business. Add the massive promotional costs for both films, and the films not earning nearly enough as both the original Sam Raimi trilogy or any other superhero films currently out there, and it makes a heck of a lot of sense for the change.
From a fan perspective, this is all brilliant just from the get-go. However, imagine it from the minds of the average cinema goer - the second film of a second Spider-Man came out last year, and now next year a different one will turn up in a completely different film before getting his own one year on. Surely that would anger people moreso than the previous 5 year gap between Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's interpretations, but now there's a two year break. This is arguably way too soon to add the character to the Universe, and confusion is a given. And whilst a origin story again is unlikely, it may be harder for audiences to buy a new actor in the role so soon after Garfield.
But it should be considered that Marvel Studios doesn't get the complete rights. Whilst the character can appear in the MCU films - most likely Captain America: Civil War seeing as he has a prominent role in the comic storyline - and Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige produces the standalone feature, Sony will finance, distribute, own and have final creative control on the film. This could be a big no-no when you consider that it could cause heads to clash constantly during production - they both have different ways and it could prove difficult to agree on ideals, especially if the worse of the two has final say. It's similar to the original deal between Disney and Pixar - Disney distributed, had control, and got the merchandise profits whilst Pixar made the content. It was only when the contract was coming to an end that changes were made - but do we need another situation like this?
There's also the situation about the Marvel slate - with Spider-Man squeezed in for 2017, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and The Inhumans will all be delayed (the last of which will now appear after the big Thanos fight in Avengers: Infinity Wars Part II). It comes across as a rush to bring a character who hasn't been gone long and forcing the delay for diversity within that universe. What will happen to Chadwick Boseman, now that he has an extra year to wait for his own film and could potentially be kicked off Civil War? Will the current Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D storyline involving the Inhumans be dragged out for an additional year? It's seems like they want to stop everything just because they can get Spider-Man involved.
I'm not against Spider-Man joining the Avengers, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If anything, I was one of the people hoping for it. But I am against Sony's over-involvement and the huge push to get the character out there as soon as possible. Give the character plenty of time out of the limelight before bringing him back out there, with an origin-free storyline. Heck, if possible leave it for after Avengers: Infinity War, he won't be that much use there. But there's is still a chance it will all work out, and it's good that they are giving him a shot - even if there's a lot at stake.
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