Spider-Man has long been a beloved character in the Marvel universe. Like the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and others, he was initially off-limits to Marvel Studios. There was much talk about his potential appearance in the MCU, such as that fake "leaked" post-credits scene for Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, it seemed unlikely for a long time.

Spidey's Sony Era

In the mid-2010s, Sony Pictures had its own plans for Spidey. They were set to release at least two more movies in The Amazing Spider-Man franchise and a Sinister Six project from Drew Goddard. But when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed and leaked "Sony Hack" emails showed that Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal had discussed a crossover, the decision was made to bring Peter Parker into the MCU. This happened with 2016's Captain America: Civil War, followed by Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and then Spider-Man: No Way Home after a brief spat.Since then, a new deal has extended this partnership. Despite the success of these Spider-Man movies, Sony continued with its own universe featuring Venom, Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter. Some box office hits were achieved, but the rest didn't perform well and were mostly disliked by fans and critics.

Venom's Impact

Recently, Variety explained that Sony could have used Spider-Man in those movies at any time. The reason it didn't happen was that Venom's success in 2018 gave the studio false confidence. Executives were aware that fans would reject seeing Spidey in non-MCU projects.

Future Possibilities

Now, Sony intends to shift focus to Spider-Man 4, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and Spider-Noir. There is chatter on social media about using a new version of the wall-crawler in future movies. Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock said, "You could hire a different Spider-Man. It doesn't have to be Tom." This is a valid point as we have seen similar situations in other franchises. For example, in the DC universe, we have The Brave and the Bold and The Batman Part II in close proximity, and no one was confused by Tom Holland's Peter Parker not being in the animated Spider-Verse movies.There are two compelling possibilities for Sony moving forward. One is Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, and the other, even more likely, is Andrew Garfield's. But it's hard to imagine either actor returning without a major improvement in creativity, which would likely require Avi Arad's departure.What do you think? As always, you can let us know your thoughts in the comments section.