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Spider-Man characters won’t appear in the MCU

Spider-Man is going it alone without Venom and his Spider-pals - Credit: Marvel
Spider-Man is going it alone without Venom and his Spider-pals - Credit: Marvel

It’s official – ‘Spider-Man’ is going solo.

At least, when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s been a confusing few weeks for ‘Spider-Man’ fans. Following a series of ‘will-they won’t-they’ sort-of-announcements by Marvel and Sony, it looks as though the final verdict is finally in – Venom and other ‘Spider-man’ characters won’t appear in the MCU.

But we could eventually see Spider-Man face Venom.

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During an interview with ComicBook.com, Marvel and Sony bosses Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal decided to clarify their earlier comments… and now we have a definitive statement about how the ‘Spider-Man’ deal will affect the MCU.

“Here’s what we’re doing: all these characters are a part of the Marvel comic book universe,” said Sony’s Amy Pascal. “In that universe, they are all related to each other. Kevin [Feige] makes characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These characters are separate, except for Spidey, who belongs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is why he’s there.”

That much is clear – Spider-Man is definitely part of the MCU.

Not exactly a huge surprise, following his appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War’.

Venom's previous big-screen incarnation - Credit: Sony
Venom’s previous big-screen incarnation – Credit: Sony

But it looks as though he’s the only ‘Spider-Man’ character who will be making the jump. Essentially, this means that Sony’s upcoming Spider-verse won’t tie into the MCU in any way. Again, not a huge surprise… but after recent comments muddied the waters, it’s well worth clarifying.

Does this mean Spider-Man and Venom won’t meet?

Well… not exactly.

“When asked if this is an absolute confirmation that a Venom and Spider-Man crossover is officially off the table, Feige is quick to say ‘We never say never’.” But even this comes with a caveat: “You could ask me, ‘Is Superman gonna be there?’ I go, ‘Never say never,’ but not any time soon.”

Of course, Tom Hardy is still suiting up for the Venom solo film.

Tom Hardy is the new Venom (Credit: WENN/Marvel Comics)
Tom Hardy is the new Venom (Credit: WENN/Marvel Comics)

But from the sounds of it, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man won’t be involved… or at the very least, it’s not a done deal.

Essentially, it sounds as though Tom Hardy’s Venom will be part of the Sony Spider-verse… while Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has instead joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it seems unlikely that Marvel want the two to mix.

And even Tom Holland himself admits that’s the case.

“Everyone’s asking this question, man,” he told CBM. “It’s never happening.”

Where does this leave the solo ‘Spider-Man’ movies?

Well, it sounds as though those are part of the MCU, too – with Marvel essentially taking the reins for Tom Holland’s solo outings.

“It’s a creative collaboration for sure,” said Feige. “The deal was, this is of course a Sony movie but we would produce it. We would make it in our system with our team.”

“It would have been silly for Sony to do this movie with Marvel and not get the benefit of what Marvel knows,” added Pascal. “The whole point was to trust other people and know when other people are really good at what they do.”

So, there we have it – Spider-Man is in the MCU.

But his Spider-verse pals aren’t… and the two are unlikely to mix.

Which begs the question – why are they bothering with ‘Venom’ at all? It’s certainly going to be very interesting to see ‘Spider-Man’ spin-off movies without a Spider-Man.

Whether or not they’ll find an audience… that remains to be seen.

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ stars Tom Holland as Spider-Man. He’s joined by Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr, Angourie Rice, Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine and Michael Keaton.

Jon Watts directed the movie based on a script he co-wrote alongside Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers.

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ heads to cinemas on 7 July 2017.

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