Who Wants To Be A Billionaire?
Listen, and understand. That Marvel Cinematic Universe is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever.
If anyone thought the MCU was going to slow down after Avengers: Endgame then you were wrong.
So if the guys from Marvel turn up at your doorstep every couple of years with a dump truck full of ca$h, what would you do? Well, if you are the brains trust behind Pixels, Ghostbusters 2016 and Men In Black International, it appears you may have an opportunity to break the winning streak.
Journalist Richard Rushfield’s newsletter, The Ankler, has detailed the contract terms that keep Sony and Marvel in the Spidey game together.
Sony distributes if Spider-Man is the main character, Marvel Studios if he’s a supporting character such as in Captain America: Civil War. Marvel remains the creative force, with both studios sharing co-producing duty.
However, this deal only remains in place as long as the filthy lucre keeps rolling in.
The hurdle rate? A cool $1 billion. If Spider-Man: Far From Home clears a billion then Marvel gets to go a third time. If it doesn’t then full control would revert back to Sony.
In other words, if the new sequel doesn’t smash the box office, then it’s back to the sole control that brought us Andrew Garfield and Jamie Fox.
Spider-Man: Far From Home has already made over $600 million in its first week, so it’s probably a safe bet that Sony will just have to shut up and take the money this time around.
Third Time’s A Charm
Holland has a contract for six appearances as Spider-Man. Three as a lead, and three in other movies. That leaves only one more leading appearance to go under the contract.
With a big Marvel panel at ComicCon on the way it is expected a big reveal will be made about the future of the MCU. Master of the Universe Kevin Feige has spoken about the recent Spider-Man sequel and the impact it will have:
WARNING – MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD
In an interview with Fandango Feige drew parallels with the first Iron Man when Tony Stark’s identity was revealed. In Spider-Man: Far From Home this happens to Peter Parker but with him being framed as a bad guy.
“Much like the end of Iron Man, saying, okay, the rules have changed. Which now means we’re going to have to do something completely different next time. The how and the when and the specifics can change and evolve, but setting yourself up for something that has never been done before.
At the end of Iron Man, it was a hero publicly outing himself so that in the next movies and all subsequent movies, we couldn’t fall back on the secret identity trope which had been part of Iron Man’s story for decades in the comics.
And now people know Peter’s identity. People now think he’s a villain. Mysterio plays one last trick on him and succeeds… [so that] means everything’s different. Where it goes, we’ll see. But it’s exciting that it once again sets us up for a Peter Parker story that has never been done before on film.”
One thing that takes a while to realise is that, up until now, Peter Parker was the only superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a hidden secret identity.
Having this removed clearly sets up the direction of the third picture. Director Jon Watts, with writers Chris McKenna and Erik Summers, recently alluded to Kraven The Hunter making an appearance.
One thing they have dismissed is a ditched cameo in Spider-Man: Far from Home by Anthony Mackie’s new Captain America:
“Just a rumor. I don’t think that was ever on the table. It was never on the whiteboard.”
Spider-Man: Far from Home is in cinemas now. ComicCon starts July 18th.
