Review on the Current State of “Spider-Man”

Lyden discusses the future of “Spider-Man” and Sony’s new agreement with Marvel.

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I’m sure you all know this, but Marvel and its beyond lucrative cinematic universe wasn’t always the powerhouse it was today. In fact, Marvel movies were, for the most part, ignored completely by even their fans. Facing bankruptcy, they sold off their most valuable properties to various companies for enough money to stay afloat. Which bring us to today, with Marvel on top of the world and with the confidence, talent and resources to give those lost titles justice, the only issue being, they can’t.

Tensions have never really been smooth between Sony and Marvel, it’s to be expected though, especially when you sell your most profitable franchise to a company so self-righteous as Sony. Anyone who didn’t see some sort of disagreement between them on a “Spider-Man” eventually probably hasn’t been paying much attention.

It was seemingly the end for Tom Holland’s take on the superhero when Sony pulled the rights from Marvel, but after a fan backlash, in which they had not only their revenue threatened, but their actual lives, they decided to rethink, lest they suffer the wrath of entitled movie-goers around the world. 

To be quite honest with you all, I stopped caring about Tom Holland after his first movie in the MCU, people defend the new films tooth and nail even though Sony has probably already released the best film “Spider-Man” that’ll have the luxury of being attached to its name. Sony’s newest animated movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse” was stylish and unique take on an untouched story while “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was a bland, by the books continuation of the already bloated origin story. That’s also not mentioning the fact that the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films revolutionized the superhero film.

While you may not agree that Sony should own the rights to such a beloved franchise such as this, I do think it’s important to note that their “Spider-Man” entries have, for the most part, been passible or even exceptional at times. 

Sony’s deal with Marvel really is the best possible outcome for the title, fans of the MCU will get to see their universe expanded upon with arguably the most popular superhero in the world and fans of the standalone, spin-off titles will still see many unique additions that wouldn’t maintain continuity with Marvel’s vision of “Spider-Man.”

Sony have done some great things with “Spider-Man” and are well within their rights as a company to give and take away deals with Marvel, Sony are far from benevolent, but they’ve proven capable of making good use of the superhero. 

That being said, this could be a useful precedent for companies to set on licensing franchises off to capable hands that could offer an interesting take on more than just “Spider-Man.” It’s not unreasonable to think that many of our favorite titles could see a larger area to operate within. If a company as uptight as Sony is willing to budge on one of their most coveted properties, that spells some level of optimism for the future of film.