The hack currently exposing all of Sony's deepest, darkest secrets hasn't abated in the least, and some important stuff is getting put out there for everyone to see. No, not crap like the employees thinking Adam Sandler movies are terrible (they are), but deals that very nearly happened. The latest leak is one that's bound to drive Marvel and Spider-Man fans up a wall.
A few weeks ago a rumor surfaced that Sony and Marvel were having talks to possibly share the Spider-Man rights, so the character could appear alongside The Avengers during the Civil War storyline. Turns out those rumors were true. The WSJ dug into the most recent leaked emails and made the discovery, revealing execs were discussing a scenario in which Marvel would produce a trilogy of Spider-Man movies that Sony would retain creative control and distribution over. Marvel was into the idea, too, but the discussions eventually broke down. What it doesn't tell us if Marvel would have recast Spider-Man, but I'm guessing they would have.
That means Sony is going to push full steam ahead on their upcoming Spidery slate, which includes Venom, Sinister Six, a female-led spinoff, and apparently an animated Spider-Man comedy from 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller. That information was also part of the leak but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of details. Either way, the combination of Lord, Miller, and Spider-Man sounds pretty awesome.
So shed a tear, True Believers, at what might have been. We were so close to having Spider-Man and The Avengers playing for the same team.
