Sony Chief Says Door is Closed for Spider-Man to Re-Enter MCU

Although many were hoping for a resolution to the impasse between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ parent company Disney regarding the use of Spider-Man in feature films, it looks like it’s not going to happen. According to Variety, Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra has put the kibosh on the character appearing in the MCU anytime soon.

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“For the moment the door is closed,” said Vinciquerra, though adding the caveat that “it’s a long life.” As far as the intense backlash to the decision to pull Spidey from the MCU, he said it has been “an interesting couple of weeks” for Sony.

“We had a great run with (Kevin Feige) on Spider-Man movies,” the Sony chief stated. “We tried to see if there’s a way to work it out….the Marvel people are terrific people, we have great respect for them, but on the other hand we have some pretty terrific people of our own. Kevin didn’t do all the work… Spider-Man was fine before the event movies, did better with the event movies, and now that we have our own universe, he will play off the other characters as well. I think we’re pretty capable of doing what we have to do here.”

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently spoke to EW about the fallout, expressing gratitude for the Spider-Man films Marvel Studios was able to make, saying:

“I’m feeling about Spider-Man, gratitude and joy. We got to make five films within the MCU with Spider-Man: two standalone films and three with The Avengers. It was a dream that I never thought would happen. It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we’d be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I’ll always be thankful for that.”

Actor Tom Holland elaborated a little further, seemingly confirming that he wouldn’t return to the MCU: “The future for Spider-Man will be different, but it will be equally as awesome and amazing, and we’ll find new ways to make it even cooler.”

While Sony has two more Spider-Man movies in the works, Jon Watts, who directed Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home, has apparently not signed on yet for the two future movies. Watts is being courted for other projects (including, reportedly, for Marvel Studios), so there is no guarantee the director will return for a third Spider-Man movie, despite previously reporting that he was signed on for two more.

Sony’s upcoming slate includes the Venom sequel, starring Tom Hardy and directed by Andy Serkis, as well as Jared Leto’s in-the-can Morbius, a Kraven the Hunter film, and a spinoff featuring Silver Sable and Black Cat.