You can go ahead and add Todd McFarlane’s name to the long list of people who believe Spider-Man and the MCU are now headed in two very different directions.
While many suspected that Disney was playing hardball – word is the company pushed for greater share of the Web-Head – as a negotiating tactic, it’s now looking increasingly likely that the lucrative agreement between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, one which allowed Tom Holland’s Peter Parker to appear in no less than 5 MCU films, is dead.
What makes this news particularly difficult to swallow – let alone comprehend – is the way in which Far From Home ended. The highest-grossing Spidey movie ever teased a decidedly different path for Parker, whose secret identity was exposed to the world by the villainous Mysterio. Alas, it seems we may never catch the third and final chapter in Marvel and Jon Watts’ trilogy, barring some last-minute change of heart.
And if there’s one person who believes that ship has now sailed, it’s Todd McFarlane. Via Bloomberg, the Spawn creator outlined the hurdles still to overcome.
When Disney bought Marvel there were some characters that were out. They had to spend 2 billion dollars to get Iron Man back from Paramount. They tried to get X-Men and the Fantastic Four from Fox for $4 billion but it ended up costing them $73 billion because they just had to buy the whole studio and then the deal that they made with Sony because there’s a bit of a soft spot there for Spider-Man that they would sort of cross over and Sony and the MCU, and the Disney ones would put Spider-Man in.
At the heart of this contentious debate is the issue of money – and, more specifically, how much of the Spidey pie belongs to Disney. From what we understand, the Mouse House hoped to increase its share from around 30 percent to 50 percent, much to the chagrin of Sony. And so began the standoff we’re currently in.
McFarlane continued:
If I was the executive of Sony I’d say no. I’d go I’m not giving you…they want to jump it from what I’m hearing from a 10% take to a 50% take. I don’t know what executive is going to give them that jump.
Say it ain’t so, Todd! Yes, sadly it seems Far From Home may go down in history as Spider-Man‘s final MCU appearance… for now, at least, given Sony Pictures still hopes to arrive at some sort of arrangement with Marvel Studios – and, by effect, Disney – further down the line.