Spider-Man is coming home to Marvel

First there were rumours that Marvel was in talks with Sony to bring Spider-Man back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Then there were leaked emails in a certain Sony hacking incident which confirmed the talks, but painted a bleak picture for the scenario where Spidey would be swinging with the Avengers.

Now, Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Spider-Man is indeed coming home.

In a deal that everyone expected, but then didn’t, Sony and Marvel have come to an agreement which will incorporate Spider-Man into the Marvel gang of superheroes.

Spider-Man is probably one of the most popular Marvel characters, and plays an important role in the Civil War storyline which will feature in the next Captain America film in 2016.

Marvel couldn’t use Spider-Man before because it foolishly sold off the character licence to Columbia Pictures (a Sony company) back in 1999, before it knew it could make kick-ass movies itself. The same applies to the Fantastic Four and X-Men characters, which belong to Fox.

Spidey’s return is such a big deal that Marvel has pushed back some of its other films to make space for a new Spider-Man movie in 2017.

This means that:

Thor: Ragnarok is moving from July 2017 to November 2017
Black Panther will move from November 2017 to July 2018
Inhumans will move to July 2019 from November 2018

It’s understood that this is another reboot for the character – neither Andrew Garfield nor Toby Maguire will be reprising their roles.

According to the Reporter, Sony will have final creative control and will continue to finance, distribute and own the movies – but with Marvel’s involvement we remain optimistic.

Now, if only Marvel could chat to Fox so we can get some of the X-Men to join the team. I think everyone would like to see Wolverine and the Hulk butt heads on the big screen.

The next big release in the MCU is Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is coming out in May. Some of the movie’s scenes were shot right here in sunny South Africa, which is pretty cool. Check out the latest trailer for that, below.