Anna Daniels
Most everyone loves Spider-Man. And most everyone loves Tom Holland’s take on Spider-Man. But if and when the Disney/Sony deal expires again, a good number of fans won’t watch a Spider-Man movie under Sony’s control, even with Tom Holland.
That just goes to show how much control Disney/Marvel exerts. Such has been their success that some fans don’t trust anyone but Kevin Feige and company to make a decent Spider-Man movie. Still, Sony seems determined to try to do its own thing.
Sony has made more Spider-Man movies
As dominant as Marvel has become, it’s easy to forget that Sony still rules the roost when it comes to most things Spider-Man. In the early 2000s, they came out strong with Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, both of which were critically acclaimed and made tons of money. Spider-Man 3 was not critically acclaimed in 2007 and is often the butt of jokes today, but it still made a great deal of money.
Still, the reception for Spider-Man 3 was so mixed, that Sony decided to reboot the franchise, with the Amazing Spider-Man movies with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Although those movies did strong business, they prompted a lot of complaining that Sony was at best repeating themselves or at worst, blowing the whole franchise entirely.
Along came Marvel and Tom Holland, and fans cheered – so much so that there was a great deal of anguish when the deal between Sony and Disney to share Spider-Man expired last year. That deal was ultimately salvaged, at least for awhile, but the state of flux made fans wonder: even if Tom Holland stuck around, would fans stay loyal if Sony were pulling the strings?
The case against Sony
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfV-0Yv5vNY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]
As much as fans love Tom Holland, the recent Sony movies were a deal-breaker for some fans on Reddit. Yes, they said, Sony has made good Spider-Man movies, but the animated Into the Spider-Verse aside, it’s been 16 years since Sony did right by the character. One fan wrote:
“Kinda sickening how many people trust Sony after they haven’t made a good Spider-Man live-action film since 2004. Ruined their reboot franchise from the jump because they do not know how to tell a story and the producers are far too hands-on and clueless, and Venom itself was a disaster of a film despite making money.
Another fan concurred, saying, “Nah, Sony can munch a big one. Tom Holland is great, but Sony doesn’t get my money for Spiderman movies unless it goes through Marvel.”
The case for Sony
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzH4rV08TLI?start=43&feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
On the other hand, there’s a case to be made that Sony is getting a handle on their characters. Whatever one thinks of Venom, it was enough of a success that a sequel is coming later this year, and we’re also getting the Morbius movie in July. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse may have been an anomaly, but some people said it was among the best superhero films of any kind. And yes, a sequel to that is coming too.
Another fan said, “I wanna say yes cause Tom Holland is fantastic as Spider-Man and will watch as long as they’re good movies.” And someone else wrote, “I watch films I’m interested in, there’s no preconceived notions based on anything, that’d be a close minded approach. Warner Brothers can put out a Justice League 2 tomorrow and I’m there. So, a whole big fat YES.”
Eventually, the Disney/Sony sharing deal will expire again, since it allows for only one more standalone Tom Holland movie, which will come out next summer. Since Disney has a new CEO, there’s no guarantee that things will stay the same. Eventually, Tom Holland and the fans are going to have to make a decision whether to stick with Spidey no matter who’s in charge.
Written by: Cheat
