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What is the Spider-Man dispute and how much will it cost Sony?

Anastasia Santoreneos
Updated
In the right-hand corner, Spider-Man is in costumer. He is perched on a rooftop looking to the left. In the background, Marvel is written in big white letters. Two Marvel characters face each other in the back.
Spider-Man has been pushed out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Source: Getty

Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige will no longer produce any further Spider-Man films as news broke that Disney and Sony Pictures have cut ties.

The two production companies have failed to reach new terms that would have given Disney a co-financing stake going forward, Deadline first reported.

Disney asked that future Spider-Man films be a 50/50 co-financing arrangement between the studios, but Sony turned down the offer.

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And, it’s not hard to understand why.

Though Disney would front half the funding for future Spider-Man films, the issue is how much Sony would make back in profits.

The last two films Marvel’s Feige produced broke all-time records, with Spider-Man: Far From Home surpassing Skyfall to become the all-time highest grossing film for Sony Pictures.

Sony’s partnership with Marvel, which began in 2015 and allowed the character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well, saw the Spider-Man reboot, Spider-Man: Homecoming earn US$880 million - over US$100 million more than the last series earned by Sony.

But in getting rid of Marvel’s creative production, Sony could also be getting rid of those extra profits.

Deadline said Sony’s decision to cut Marvel is, “like saying, thank you, but we think can win the championship without Michael Jordan”.

Sony has two more Spider-Man films in the works, and while Deadline reported Feige loves the character, he won’t be the creative producer of the films going forward.

Spider-Man fans take to Twitter

Fans of Feige’s take on Spider-Man have taken to Twitter to express their concerns.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying to imagine the 3rd spidey film with it completely ignoring the mcu,” one user said.

Other users said Marvel founder Stan Lee would be disappointed.

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