Once upon a time, fans had resigned themselves to the fact that they’d never get to see Spider-Man share the screen with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s roster of marquee superheroes, as Sony plowed ahead on a shared mythology of its own.
Andrew Garfield debuted as Peter Parker in the same year The Avengers was released, while his sequel arrived during the summer Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier arrived. At one stage, The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 had release dates locked in, Drew Goddard was set to write and direct a Sinister Six spinoff, and countless more Spidey-adjacent projects were in development.
Of course, the poor critical and commercial reception to TASM2 saw Sony give up on a second web-slinging series to partner up with Kevin Feige and his team, and the rest is history. Speaking to The New York Times, Sony producer Amy Pascal admits she wants to keep teaming up with Marvel Studios for as long as possible.
“We’re producers, so we always believe everything will work out. I love working with Kevin. We have a great partnership, along with Tom Rothman, who runs Sony and has been instrumental, a great leader with great ideas. I hope it lasts forever.”
It’s all worked out very well for both parties; Tom Holland’s Spider-Man remains part of the MCU, while Sony still get to make comic book blockbusters like Venom, Morbius and Kraven the Hunter, with the option of crossovers remaining very much on the table. If the key creative players and audiences remain sold on the idea, then long may it continue.