LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A huge shake-up in the world of the blockbuster superhero movies has Spider-Man fans upset. It appears Spider-Man is being forced out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because of a dispute between Sony and Disney.
As the social media expert and assistant manager at Torpedo Comics; Gabriel Bustamantez saw how the discussion took off online as soon as the disagreement between Sony and Disney was reported.
“My first reaction was oh my God how is Sony and Marvel going to work this out? Because Spider-Man is Sony's only and first time ever billion-dollar franchise!"
Hollywood trade magazines said talks had broken off and the disagreement is over how to share the profits from the partnership that expanded Spider- Man's role from a standalone character to having pivotal roles in several movies in the MCU.
"Without Spider-Man's attachment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Spider-Man is not worth that billion dollars anymore,” said Bustamantez.
On Twitter, #savespiderman, #savespidey and #sony trended nationwide. Sony has had the rights to Spider-Man since 1985 but a 2015 partnership between Disney and Marvel allowed Spider-Man to appear in MCU films like Avengers: End Game.
"I feel like a lot of people would be mad if he's not a part of the movies,” said Mia Beltran. “Especially because Iron Man helped him be part of it. So, they shouldn’t be taking him out of it."
There are reports that negations are still ongoing, and fans are holding out hope that just like their favorite web slinger someone will swoop in for the save.
"I think the best-case scenario is that Disney calls in every favor that they need, and they just buy Sony and just take over Spider-Man 100 percent,” Bustamantez said. “And never have to worry about this bickering again!"
Late Wednesday Sony Pictures tweeted out a statement saying in part, "Much of today's news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions over Kevin Feige's involvement in the franchise. We are disappointed, but respect Disney's decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live-action Spider-Man film."
