The Marvel Cinematic Universe is losing its friendly neighborhood Spider-Man as recent reports have revealed that Sony Pictures and Disney will not be working together on upcoming MCU projects.
According to a report by Deadline, Feige’s exit was about money; it was about Disney seeking the 50/50 co-fi stake as the price for Marvel and Feige’s continued involvement. Sony declined to meet those terms.
It was an aggressive stance, but these talks had been going on for some time. Had Sony agreed to Disney’s ask, Marvel and Feige would not have withdrawn from the Spider-Man films, sources said. Sony took to Twitter with a differnt take on the break up as you can see in the tweet below:
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
One source said that a deal might still be reached between Disney and Sony but there are no talks currently going on. Disney is believed to have expressed concerns that Feige was spread too thin due to other Marvel projects plus original projects for Disney Plus, according to a report from Variety.
Sony has controlled the rights to the web-slinger since 1999, but the two studios have been sharing Spider-Man across numerous films since 2015, including major roles in the latest “Avengers” movies. As part of the previous agreement, Marvel had also been acting as a producer on the 2017 and 2019 standalone Sony “Spider-Man” movies starring Tom Holland, which were both box-office blockbusters.