Some absolutely web-shattering news today out of comic book movie land. Deadline reports that Marvel Studios president Kevin Fiege will no longer serve as producer on future Spider-Man movies.
The last few months have reportedly seen a dispute between Disney and Sony over the co-distribution rights they’ve shared since 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, and a failure to come to terms has essentially jettisoned Feige and Marvel from future Spidey projects.
The timing on this news is mind-boggling, as Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker just appeared in Avengers: Endgame—now the highest-earning film of all time—and then took the lead in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which surpassed the James Bond film Skyfall last weekend to become Sony’s highest-grossing film.
According to the report, two more films are still coming down the pipeline with Holland in the lead web-head role and Jon Watts returning to the director’s chair.
Whenever these two projects come to pass, Feige will not serve as lead creative producer. And apparently, the decision simply comes down to money. Sony, led by Tom Rothman and Tony Vinciquerra, reportedly turned down an offer by Disney of a 50/50 co-financing deal on future Spider-Man projects, a deal that may have stretched into other MCU entries in which the character appeared. Under the current deal, Marvel gets around 5% of first-dollar gross.
As is, there are more than a few questions left hanging in the air. First and foremost, can Holland’s Spider-Man still appear in the Disney-produced MCU movies, which Far From Home set up as the clear path forward? Also, does this mean the character can possibly make his way over to the Sony-only Venom movies?
