The news has been rough in the world of Spider-Man.
In the days since it was reported that Disney and Sony were going their separate ways, unable
to reach an agreement regarding their joint partnership over the Spider-Man franchise,
many have been playing the blame game and firing shots at both studios.
Thanks to a new report from Variety breaking down the Spider-Man split, we may finally
know who to point our fingers at.
According to an unnamed source with inside knowledge of the deal, the X-Men franchise
may be to blame for Disney and Sony divorcing.
"You picked the wrong house, bub."
The insider noted that Disney walked away from negotiations partly because executives
want Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to place his focus more on the Marvel properties
the studio recently acquired from Fox.
Those properties include the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and many others.
Shortly before Disney acquired most of Fox's assets in March 2019, when the two companies
merged under a $71.3 billion deal, it was confirmed that Feige would be taking over
the X-Men movie franchise, and already had ideas as to what he would do with the gang
of mutants within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Namely, he wants to recast Wolverine with a younger actor and evidently start things
over from square one.
Longtime X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who hired Feige as an associate producer on
2000's X-Men, stated to Deadline in February 2019 that Feige was, quote, "still dealing
with the wealth of characters and trying to make sense of it all."
Feige's plan for the X-Men property reportedly became much clearer in June 2019, following
the release of Dark Phoenix, the 12th entry in the X-Men movie series.
A financial and critical failure, Dark Phoenix posted the lowest opening weekend of any X-Men
movie in history and is considered by some to be the worst installment of the franchise
— which is disappointing given it was the last-ever X-Men film produced by Fox.
Reportedly, Dark Phoenix's box office bombing spurred Disney brass to rework its priorities
at Marvel Studios, evidently wanting Feige to focus on rebuilding the X-Men brand.
A source close to Variety indicated that Walt Disney Studios co-chairman Alan Bergman insisted
on an end to the Sony talks after Dark Phoenix flopped.
Though it's tempting to jump on the "X-Men Killed Spider-Man" train, fans should take
this report with a grain of salt.
No one but the parties involved in the Disney-Sony split know what really happened, and plenty
of rumors have surfaced in the time since the news broke.
Some claim that Disney and Sony are secretly working things out behind the scenes, while
others are convinced that what's done is done and there's no turning back.
At this point in time, it's anyone's guess what's coming next — even with Feige and
Spider-Man actor Tom Holland having recently addressed the situation.
During the 2019 D23 Expo in late August, the men spoke with Entertainment Weekly about
the studios' break-up and Spidey's MCU exit.
Holland expressed gratitude for getting to play Spider-Man for what he called five amazing
years with the character while Feige stated that the deal between Disney and Sony was,
quote, "never meant to last forever."
"My parents… are dead."
It's interesting to consider Dark Phoenix and the future of the X-Men franchise being
a major force behind Disney's decision to walk away from the negotiating table and let
Sony regain sole ownership over Spider-Man.
Holland's web-slinging hero has proven wildly successful for both studios — with many
fans and critics agreeing that his iteration of Spider-Man is the best one yet.
The most recent franchise entry, Spider-Man: Far From Home, earned over a billion dollars
worldwide to become Sony's top-earning movie ever.
One could argue that it makes little sense that Disney and Marvel would prioritize fixing
a broken franchise over keeping a really good thing going.
Either way, if the studios really have split, it's hard not to be worried about the fate
of that third Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man movie.
"Well at least we can all agree the third one's always the worst."
However, it doesn't seem totally unreasonable that Feige and company would want to end the
ongoing tug-of-war with Sony over Spider-Man and instead focus their time and expertise
on building the X-Men film series back up.
The Spider-Man movies clearly aren't hurting for attention in any aspect, and, thanks to
Feige's input, are on the steadiest ground they've been on since Sam Raimi's original
trilogy.
It seems that the biggest takeaway from all the Spidey-related news is this: Sony will
probably be fine, Disney and Marvel will probably be fine, and both studios will hopefully be
able to co-exist in peace.
Holland's Spider-Man isn't going anywhere in the immediate future, and neither are fans
of the franchise… for now, at least.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about Spider-Man are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.