The Door is Closed
Fans holding out hope that Spider-Man might be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be disappointed to hear that "for the moment the door is closed," according to Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra.
Speaking at Variety's Entertainment & Technology summit, Vinciquerra cryptically added that "it's a long life," implying that perhaps in the distant future the web-slinging hero might swing his way back to the Disney-owned company.
Vinciquerra insisted that there is "no ill will" between Sony and Marvel, after the two failed to reach on agreement on financing terms for upcoming Spider-Man movies, effectively removing Tom Holland's Spider-Man from the Marvel fold in terms of both future standalone and team-up features. However, he also did acknowledge the fan backlash to the news, saying that it has been "an interesting couple of weeks" for the studio.
Vinciquerra pointed to Marvel boss Kevin Feige being "stretched incredibly thin" with new additions coming to the MCU as one of the reasons behind the breakdown in talks.
"We had a great run with (Feige) on Spider-Man movies," the Sony chief said. "We tried to see if there's a way to work it out….the Marvel people are terrific people, we have great respect for them, but on the other hand we have some pretty terrific people of our own. Kevin didn't do all the work."
"Spiderman was fine before the event movies, did better with the event movies, and now that we have our own universe, he will play off the other characters as well," Vinciquerra said. "I think we're pretty capable of doing what we have to do here."
