Spider-Man is finally returning to the Marvel fold. For the first time on screen, the Sony Pictures web-slinger will share pixels, and cinematic canon, alongside Marvel Studios superheroes including Captain America and Iron Man.
Too bad for Andrew Garfield, this Spider-Man won’t be so Amazing.
The 31-year-old actor has played Peter Parker and his famous wisecracking alter ego through two films and a hacking scandal, but a source confirms to The Daily Beast that Garfield will not pop up in Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man future.
Garfield had discussions about continuing his involvement in the surprise new Spidey venture that Sony and Marvel announced late Monday night, but ultimately it didn’t make sense to keep him for what will be a new chapter for Spider-Man, the source said. The role will be recast as Sony and Marvel look to reboot the character, yet again.
The colliding of long-separated comic book worlds heretofore owned by rival studios (Spidey by Sony; X-Men and Fantastic Four by Fox; just about everything else Marvel owned by Disney) will begin with a Spider-Man cameo in an upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film—likely Captain America: Civil War, as first revealed in emails leaked during the Sony hack.
One such email dated October 13, 2014, from Michael De Luca, co-president of production for Columbia Pictures, to Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, revealed Spider-Man might appear in the third Captain America film, slotted for a May 6, 2016 release.
After he’s introduced to the Avengers world in Cap 3, Spider-Man will get his own new Marvel-blessed, Sony-distributed reboot on July 28, 2017, following Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in the MCU. Setting a new place at the table for Spidey, Marvel has reshuffled Thor: Ragnarok to November 3, 2017, sent Black Panther to July 6, 2018, and Captain Marvel to November 2, 2018. The mega team-up pics Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2 will be released as planned in 2018 and 2019, respectively, before Marvel’s Inhumans hits theaters on July 12, 2019.
The deal puts a Spider-Man standalone squarely in the middle of the 2017 box office summer. Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Sony’s Pascal will produce the film as Sony keeps the majority of control over their spandexed commodity, which they’re essentially loaning out to Disney-owned Marvel.
“I really feel, in my heart of hearts, that the new spiderman [sic] in cap 3 could just appear in his own film, be it sinister six or a kick ass spidey film of his own, after that intro in cap 3 and people would be cool with it,” wrote De Luca.
“I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie,” said Feige in the Sony-Marvel statement. “Amy has been deeply involved in the realization on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.”
