Executives from Sony and Disney have spoken about the future of the Spider-Man movies following last year’s U-turn over its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The two parties fell out in August over the future movie rights to the Marvel superhero, dumping Spider-Man out of the MCU. A month later, however, a new agreement was reached — with Spider-Man actor Tom Holland reaching out to both Sony’s Tom Rothman and Disney CEO Bob Iger in an effort to restart negotiations.
Rothman, who is the chairman of Sony’s Motion Picture Group, and Walt Disney Studios’ chief creative officer and co-chairman Alan Horn took part in a round table discussion with The Hollywood Reporter this week, with the pair addressing the cinematic future of Spider-Man.
Asked about “the one thing above all else” which helped end the stand-off over Marvel producing the next Sony-made Spider-Man movie, Horn replied “the fan base.”
“The fan base, which is important to all of us, seemed to really respond to what Tom and his folks have done before with our people,” Horn said. “They like the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Kevin Feige were involved [in the two Spider-Man films]. We heard feedback out there that suggested that joining forces once again was probably really a good idea.”
Asked if the partnership between Sony and Marvel owners Disney will continue after the end of the current Spider-Man movie trilogy, Rothman instead praised how the studios had ended their dispute — calling it “a classic win-win-win”.
“A win for Sony, a win for Disney, a win for the fans,” he said.
“The only thing I would say is that news cycles and the rhythm of negotiations do not necessarily overlap. And this is, in the words of Shakespeare, a consummation devoutly to be wished. We would have gotten there, and the news got ahead of some things.”
Last month, the trailer for the Jared Leto-starring Spider-Man spin-off Morbius was released.
