Marvel just announced that Spider-Man is joining their shared Cinematic Universe, to be produced by both Sony & the Marvel Studios team. This is huge and wonderful and dizzying news, but the press release raises so many questions and implications. Such as…
1) This is a reboot.
The second line of the press release says “the new Spider-Man“. The press release says that this arrangement will signal “a new creative direction for the web slinger.” While I’m sure this means Marc Webb, director of the last two Spider-Man movies, is gone, does that mean Andrew Garfield and the supporting Spider-Man cast are out too?
2) Is Avi Arad off the film?
Avi Arad was instrumental in building Marvel’s film brand in the ’90s and 2000s. He was Marvel’s main connection to Hollywood, and helped build Spider-Man into the film franchise it is today. He’s also notoriously hard to work with, and it seems like he doesn’t understand what fans want from Spidey at all. Though the press release mentions Kevin Feige & Amy Pascal, Arad is nowhere to be found. Is Marvel’s last franchise finally free from his grip?
3) Do you remember how sad you were when you first saw this picture, and how happy you are that it’s no longer relevant?
4) Where is Spider-Man’s first MCU appearance?
The press release says “the new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017.” The smart money is that Spidey plays a role in Civil War, but the film starts shooting in April. That’s not a lot of time to find a new Spider-Man, especially after Marvel’s six month search for Doctor Strange.
Could the press release be misleading us? Might a silent Spider-Man appear in Civil War, or even Age of Ultron, but Peter Parker won’t appear until his solo film?
5) What’s happening to Sinister Six?
Sinister Six is Sony’s next big offering in the Spider-Man franchise, written & directed by Drew Goddard and set to be a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and produced by Avi Arad. But with a brand new Spider-Man franchise, what happens to that film? Is it cancelled? Is it merged with the new Spidey? Is Drew Goddard, the most perfect person to direct Spider-Man in the history of ever, actually going to direct the next Spider-Man?
6) Is Inhumans the first film of Phase 4?
Shortly after the Spider-Man announcement, Marvel shifted the release dates for half of their Phase 3 films. Now Inhumans is coming after Infinity War Part II. Is Inhumans the final film of Phase 3? Or, given how critical they are to the MCU’s future, are they the leaders of Phase 4?
7) Does this corroborate the huge Phase 3 spoilers that were rumored a few weeks ago?
Latino Review reported Spider-Man joining the MCU in mid-January, alongside a lot of spoilers for various Phase 3 movies, including the ending for Civil War. As exciting as the next four years are, do we basically already know how they’re going to play out?
8) Why the hell isn’t Marvel curing cancer?
It’s pretty clear they can do anything at this point.
9) Marvel can you please please please recreate this moment exactly as is on film?
