By Kaitlin Kim

Back in August 2019, Sony announced that Spider-Man would be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), leaving fans in shock and distraught. 

Spider-Man leaving the MCU was due to an argument between Disney and Sony about profit sharing. Disney wanted a fifty fifty co-financing deal with Sony over its future Spider-Man movies produced by Kevin Feige, especially after Spider-Man: Far From Home, released in July, became Sony’s all-time highest grossing film worldwide. Disney wanted to put in half the budget and reap half the rewards for Spider-Man films and universe films, potentially limiting Sony’s control over production. Sony, however, wanted to keep the status quo, in which  Disney gets 5% first-dollar gross on Spider-Man films and merchandising rights. This led to Disney removing Feige and Marvel Studios as producers of Sony’s future Spider-Man films. Sony and Disney rejected each other’s offers. 

On September 27, it was announced that Spider-Man will stay in the Marvel Universe, to the relief of many fans online. Sony and Disney came to a compromise that both Disney and Sony will jointly produce the third Spider-Man film. Disney will also co-finance the movie and will share in roughly 25% of the profits of the film. A source with knowledge of the deal said, “As part of the arrangement, Spider-Man will also appear in a future Marvel Studios film.”

The third Spider-Man film will be released on July 16, 2021.