Spider-man…Spider-man…is still a part of the MCU…land! (Hey, it’s hard to rhyme with MCU guys.)

Spider-man: Far From Home ©Sony

After months of back and forth between Disney and Sony, an agreement has finally been reached for the cinematic fate of Tom Holland’s Spider-man!

Spidey has been a fan favorite since his introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU, for short), but when Disney and Sony couldn’t reach a decision on the future of Spider-man in films, fans thought they might never see their Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man return to the big screen in his current form.

Spider-Man ©Disney

Late Thursday, Disney and Sony signed a deal officially agreeing to keep the next Spider-man film, starring Tom Holland and produced by Kevin Feige, in the MCU. This version of Spidey will also make one more appearance in an upcoming MCU film. So what does this all actually mean???

Avengers Infinity War Poster ©Disney

Here’s how this all breaks down: When Disney acquired Marvel in 2009, it came with a bit of baggage. Disney owns Marvel, so they own Spider-man. But when they acquired Marvel, any contracts already in place were honored. This includes Marvel giving full film rights to Spider-man to Sony years before. Any Spider-man theatrical film that comes out, Sony will release and have creative control over. That’s why films like Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse could happen — Disney didn’t have a hand in its creation, only Sony did. Sony can do what they like with Spider-man in the movies without Disney’s involvement. The flip side is Disney had to get Sony to give them the rights to use Spider-man in all the Marvel films he’s appeared in thus far.

Spider-man ©Sony

Disney has full rights for Spider-man everywhere else including non-theatrical media use (we’re interested to see if this includes streaming services like Disney+), merchandise, and theme park rights…for the most part. The other hiccup in the Disney/Marvel merger was that Marvel had already made a deal with Universal Studios for theme park use of their characters. So in honoring that, Disney can’t have Marvel characters in Orlando or Japan where Universal has theme parks with those characters (hence why no Avengers Campus at either of those locations. Boo. 🙁 )

Avengers Campus Art ©Disney

So, at least Spidey will be played by Tom Holland 2 more times. One in the next Spider-man film, due out July 16, 2021, and once again in a yet to be named Marvel film. After that, it’s up to Sony how we will see Spider-man next on the big screen. But with Disney owning the crazy-successful Marvel Universe, if they want to tap into those characters (umm..please keep Happy Hogan and Nick Fury with Spidey!) and that world, more deals with Disney will have to be made down the road. But for now, fans can rest easy they get to see Holland on the big screen playing our favorite Peter Parker 2 more times.

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Are you pumped to see Spidey web-slinging in the MCU for 2 more films?! Let us know in the comments!