Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are sticking together for another Spider-Man homecoming: franchise producers Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige confirm the two studios are “actively” developing a Spider-Man 4. Sony and Disney’s Marvel partnered to bring a rebooted Peter Parker (Tom Holland) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, the start of a five-movie deal spinning two solos for Sony (2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home) and two appearances for Marvel (2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame).
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When the deal expired with Endgame epilogue Far From Home, a co-financing stalemate threatened to pull the webhead out of the MCU — until a new pact meant Spidey would stick around for Spider-Man: No Way Home, now playing exclusively in theaters, and at least one more Marvel movie.
After Pascal last month said Sony is gearing up to make “the next three” Spider-Man movies with Holland and Feige’s Marvel Studios, the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe producer explained the premature confirmation to The New York Times:
“We’re producers, so we always believe everything will work out. I love working with Kevin,” Pascal said. “We have a great partnership, along with Tom Rothman, who runs Sony and has been instrumental, a great leader with great ideas. I hope it lasts forever.”
Added Feige, “Amy and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next, which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after Far From Home. That will not be occurring this time.”
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The months-long standoff between Sony and Marvel ended with new terms: under the renegotiated deal, Disney would co-finance 25% of a Spider-Man 3 for a 25% equity stake. The renewed pact would also bring back Spider-Man for another Disney/Marvel movie, potentially a rebooted Fantastic Four or an Avengers 5.
“He’s going to show up sometime,” Feige said of Marvel and Sony’s shared Spider-Man. “The when and the where, of course, is the fun part — and the part that we don’t talk about.”
At the red carpet premiere of No Way Home, Rothman confirmed with ComicBook that Sony would “lend” Spider-Man once more after the character’s appearance in Disney/Marvel’s Civil War and two Avengers sequels. That first deal also meant MCU characters like Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) would appear in stand-alone Spider-Man movies distributed by Sony.
As for Holland, who has cast doubts on his Spidey return after No Way Home, Pascal and Feige hope to see the 25-year-old actor continue in the role for the untitled Spider-Man 4 and beyond.
“At the end of the movie we just made [No Way Home], you see Spider-Man make a momentous decision, one that you’ve never seen him make before,” Pascal told the Times. “It’s a sacrifice. And that gives us a lot to work with for the next film.”
That next film, the hopeful start of a second trilogy, is made possible by Pascal and Feige’s collaboration birthed out of the underwhelming performance of 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
“I called Kevin and said, ‘Help.’ And then he came over to my office for lunch and said, ‘I know how to help you,’” Pascal recalled. Added Feige, “She said, ‘I really want you to help on this next movie. We have these great ideas for the next one. It’s amazing stuff.’ And I said, ‘I’m not good at that — giving advice and leaving. The only way I know how to help is if we just make the movie for you.’”
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Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters.
