Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be staying in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — for now. Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to the comic book character, and Walt Disney Studios (the parent of Marvel Studios) have reached a deal for another Spider-Man film, with Disney agreeing to pay 25% of the cost of the film in exchange for 25% of the profits, according to Forbes. The two sides haven’t closed the door on the “web-slinger” appearing in future “Avengers” films by Marvel. The new film is scheduled for release in July 2021.
David Betancourt, reporter for The Washington Post who covers comic book culture, and Greg Steirer, professor of English and film studies at Dickinson College, recently joined the Knowledge at Wharton radio show on SiriusXM channel 132 to discuss what the deal will mean for Sony, Disney and Spider-Man fans. Steirer is also co-author of the forthcoming book Hollywood and The American Comic Book Industry, which is due out next year.
