Here Lies the MCU Spider-Man, a Needed Revitalization of the Franchise

Just like that, Tom Holland's Peter Parker has been ripped from the grasp of Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel Studios. Nearly two billion dollars later, the very studio that helped return the character — nay, the entire Spider-Man brand — back to prominence is suddenly without creative control. Commercially speaking, Holland was the Spider-Man at the box office for Sony, with the latest batch of web-slinging movies making $995.05m globally on average. In contrast, Tobey Maguire's and Andrew Garfield's entries in the franchise earned $832.13m and $744.05m, respectively.

Thanks to the massive moving machine that's been built at the House of Mouse, Sony had one of the best sweetheart deals in all of Hollywood. By owning the live-action rights for the vast library of Spider-Man characters, they allowed Peter Parker entry into the world's biggest film franchise. In return for forsaking a wee bit of creative control, Sony was dealt two of their highest-grossing films of all-time. In fact, no movie at the studio has made more money in theaters than Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The powers that be at Sony clearly feel a need to distance themselves from Marvel Studios — but for what reason? The deal they had in place allowed them to swim through the mounds of gold coins in their vault worry-free and the only thing they had to sacrifice was creative control, a move Thanos would call a small price for salvation. After a much-needed reboot after the Garfield-led Amazing Spider-Man movies crashed the franchise into the fiery oblivion below, here's Holland and Marvel Studios to act as saviors.

Now, Sony has complete control over their own destiny, for better or for worse. The outfit now has every chance they can to cross Holland over with Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom and Jared Leto's Michael Morbius. Sony has the ability to actually have its Sony Universe of Marvel Characters with the biggest Marvel character they own rights to. Marvel Studios rebuilt Spider-Man into the character he deserved to be, thanks in a large part to Tom Holland's portrayal.

Now, Holland and his character head into the great unknown...again, for better or for worse.

Where you surprised to see the deal crash and burn? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!

Spider-Man: Far From Home is now in theaters. Morbius is set to bow July 31, 2020 while Venom is set to land October 2020.