17 days. It’s been a whole 17 days since Sony and Disney set ablaze fans hope of seeing more Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And somehow, barely, the world’s population has continued on, grasping at any inkling of hope that this global crisis will come to an end in the future. Alas, we are approaching three full weeks of this drama and if you’re to believe the head of Sony Pictures, fans shouldn’t be expecting a resolution anytime soon…or at all.
In a new report from Variety, Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra had some strong words about the disagreement between Disney/Marvel Studios and Sony over the use of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in future MCU films. And by strong words, what I really mean is that Mr. Vinciquerra basically took that little bit of hope that fans had and squashed it, by downplaying the significance of the Marvel Studios involvement with the character and talking about the end of the relationship with more finality than before.
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Now, don’t go thinking that the Sony boss is actively badmouthing Disney or Marvel Studios. In fact, he’s complimentary…to a point.
“We had a great run with [Kevin Feige] on ‘Spider-Man’ movies,” Vinciquerra said. “We tried to see if there’s a way to work it out….the Marvel people are terrific people, we have great respect for them, but on the other hand we have some pretty terrific people of our own. Kevin didn’t do all the work.”
Some might disagree with that last statement, considering the vast contrast between films like ‘Homecoming’ and ‘Far From Home’ and any ‘Spider-Man’ film outside of Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” that Sony produced on its own. But I digress.
That being said, the Sony Pictures head doesn’t think that the loss of the MCU will hurt the franchise and that Spidey will do “just fine” on his own.
READ MORE: Jon Favreau Is “Holding Out Hope & Being Optimistic” About Sony/Disney ‘Spider-Man’ Deal
“Spider-Man was fine before the event movies, did better with the event movies, and now that we have our own universe, he will play off the other characters as well,” the exec said. “I think we’re pretty capable of doing what we have to do here.”
As for those fans that jokingly (but with a serious tone) suggested that Disney just pull a Fox and buy up Sony Pictures, Vinciquerra flatly said that the studio is “not for sale.” So, if Disney wants Spider-Man back, it would appear that the two rivals are going to need to work together.