Probably the biggest question people have isn't really a question at all, anymore, and that's the fate of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. Chances are we've seen the last of him in the Spidey suit, and all of those plans for a Venom spinoff, a Sinister Six movie, and probably even the female-led Spider-Man film are all dead or delayed. Just going by the wording in the joint press release, a "new" Spider-Man will appear in the MCU in an unspecified film, probably 2016's Captain America: Civil War (according to WSJ) or 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. After that, Marvel and Sony will go in together "on a new creative direction for the web slinger", which sounds definitely like Garfield is out. After the creative and box office failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 this shouldn't come as a surprise. I'm just sad they wasted a pretty good death scene by Emma Stone.
With this new joint venture, Marvel Studios has shuffled the decks of their Phase Three line-up in order to make room for a new Spider-Man solo movie, arriving in Thor: Ragnarok's old date of July 27th 2017. Thor: Ragnarok will now open on November 3, 2017; Black Panther is set for July 6th, 2018, Captain Marvel on November 2nd 2018 and Inhumans on July 12, 2019. With Guardians of the Galaxy 2 that will give Marvel a whopping three movies in 2017, and three more coming in 2018. The major repercussion of adding Spidey into the mix could be the oversaturated market that so many have been dreading for so long. At least when Sony and Disney were on opposing sides there was an attempt to stay out of the others' way (somewhat), but now that is no longer the case. Sony retains full creative control over the character, but let's be honest that this deal wouldn't have been done unless they needed Marvel to step in. And by the same token, Disney wouldn't have done it without gaining some significant influence on the character's direction. Disney will see this as just another feather in their cap, but we're talking six Marvel superhero movies over two years. There will be a small bump due to audience enthusiasm over the move, but how much bigger can the box office really get?
But what should really have the fanboys frothing with glee is this bit in the statement here: "Marvel and Sony Pictures are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films."
A working relationship is being formed here that should end, once and for all, the idea of Spider-Man being in a separate universe from his pals in The Avengers. That means we could see Iron Man flying in to the rescue in a future Spider-Man movie...or maybe see an adaptation of a major crossover like Maximum Carnage. I think this also leaves the door open to a future Spider-Woman movie. The character inevitably would have been a legal nightmare for both companies as she's technically in the Spider-verse but is best known as one of the Avengers. With both Sony and Disney looking to build more female-led superhero franchises I think Spider-Woman, or perhaps even Spider-Girl, could become a priority very very soon.
We're not even through Marvel's Phase 2 yet and already we're seeing a seismic shift in Phase 3 and the groundwork laid for Phase 4 and beyond.
