Yesterday, Marvel announced that they had reached a deal with Sony that would bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and of course the internet went crazy for it. This is big, big news. This goes beyond a supposed email chain or rumors about some “Spidey Summit,” this is official from Marvel. It’s really happening, and that’s really cool. I know that it’s only really been recently that Spider-Man had been part of the Avengers in the comics, but I still want to see it happen. Plus, whether he is a permanent member or not, just having him around in the universe will feel good. He is where he belongs. Now ultimately, Sony gets all the distribution rights and the final creative say on the Spider-Man movies, but let’s hope they’re smart about it and let Marvel do all the heavy lifting, while they reap all the benefits. Now that he’s home, there are 3 things I would like to see happen with the character in the MCU.
1. No Origin Movie
Raise your hand if you don’t know the origin story of how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man? I would imagine that no one is raising their hand right now. In the last 15 years we have seen the origin of Spider-Man twice on the big screen. Two summer blockbuster films have established for us that he gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets his powers. We all also know that he doesn’t stop a thief, who he could have, but it wasn’t his problem. Said thief then murders his Uncle Ben. He learns that with great power comes great responsibility. We all know this, and we don’t need to see it in another 2 hour+ film. I am hoping that we won’t see it. According to the deal, Spider-Man will be appearing in a Marvel movie sometime between now and July 28, 2017, when he will be appearing in his first movie. That might indicate that we will be skipping the origin movie and just brushing over his origin story, since he will be in another property’s film.
2. I Want That Movie to be Civil War
According to the deal, Spidey will appear in an upcoming Marvel film before appearing in his own film, which is now set to open on July 28, 2017. Let’s assume that Avengers: Age of Ultron is out because we are so close to the release date of that one, and I don’t think they went to all this trouble to get Spidey to just throw him inputs credits. Let’s assume Ant-Man is out for the same reason, and it would be a weird one to introduce Spidey in. That leaves us with 3 possibilities: Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Of those 3, I would say that Civil War makes the most sense. Spider-Man has had crossovers with Doctor Strange before, so I guess it is possible, but that movie will for sure be an origin movie for Doctor Strange, so it would seem cumbersome and awkward to also introduce another new major character. Spider is a down to Earth guy, he doesn’t spend a lot of time in outer space, so a crossover with GOTG just doesn’t seem likely either. He did, however, play a major role in the Civil War storyline in the comics. In fact, when they announced Civil War as the title of the next Captain America film, I wondered how they could do it without Peter Parker. In fact, I didn’t think they could, so I theorized at that time that Spidey would be in the film. I think they were close to this deal when they announced the film and this was the plan all along.
3. It Needs to Be a New Spider-Man
I think this is a done deal. It will not be Andrew Garfield ad Peter Parker. Everything in the announcement from Marvel refers to it as a “new” Spider-Man. I think that it’s necessary for it to be someone new. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and as Spider-Man, especially with Emma Stone. The two together had great chemistry onscreen. I just feel like, after Amazing Spider-Man 2, the franchise felt broken, beyond repair. I think a reboot of some sort was inevitable. I think this is a great point to bring in a new Spider-Man, letting everyone know that what happened before is not part of the MCU, and this is a new Spidey. I think it only makes sense. I have seen people start guessing at who it will be, and frankly, as long as it’s not Ben Afleck, then I am fine. What I would really like to see is a no-name actor that they kind of discover for this role, or who has had minor roles. That would just seem to fit the Spider-Man character.
Whatever happens with Spidey in the MCU, I think we can all agree that this is a good day, and a big day for Marvel and for Spider-Man. I can’t wait to see what will happen with the character and where they go next with the character and the whole universe. It is a good day to be a geek.
