Spider-Man FINALLY Joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Spidey and the Avengers together? Plus... is Andrew Garfield being replaced in the role of the webslinger?

Over the past several years, the relationship between Spider-Man and the Avengers (and other Marvel characters) has been nonexistent. There's a good reason for that: Sony Pictures owns the rights to Spider-Man, while Marvel owns the rights to the other characters.

So, naturally, they both clutched their properties and refused to budge, instead hoping to make as much profit on their own as possible.

Until now, that is! Marvel and Sony have finally come together to bring the universes into one.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios announced today that Sony is bringing Marvel into the amazing world of Spider-Man.

Under the deal, the new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel's Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films.

Marvel and Sony Pictures are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films.

 

Yup, Spidey's next appearance is going to be in a Marvel film. Here's how it looks:

Disney has even pushed back almost all of Marvel Studios’ slate of upcoming films to make room for Sony Pictures’ next Spider-Man film, starting with Thor: Ragnarok, which will relocate from July 28, 2017 to Nov. 3, 2017. That, in turn, will bump Black Panther to July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel to Nov. 2, 2018, and Inhumans to July 12, 2019. The two Avengers: Infinity War movies, however, are still slated to open on May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019.

Representatives for Marvel Studios are declining to comment on which title will see Spider-Man make his debut. But given the announced timeline, it would seem Spidey will be in Captain America: Civil War, especially since Spider-Man plays a pivotal role in Marvel’s corresponding comic book series detailing the civil war between Captain America and Iron Man.

From there, what happens?

Well, Buzzfeed seems to think that Andrew Garfield's tenure as Peter Parker is done:

A source with knowledge of the situation, however, has confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Andrew Garfield will not play Spider-Man moving forward. A new actor will be cast.

Hey, Sony: I'm free.