So the world of movie comics is in a bit of shook over the whole Disney/Sony ordeal, with most of the fans blaming Sony for being greedy. However, like all things in life, not everything is as black and white as they want you to think!
As reported by Deadline a few days ago, Disney wanted a 50/50 spit over Spider-man when it comes to co-financing arrangement between the two studios. As one would expect, Sony immediately declined that offer and now the two powerhouses are currently in discussion for what’s to come. Many fans quickly took to the internet with the hashtag #SaveSpiderman to show their desire for Spider-Man to remain in the MCU and for Tom Holland (who recently unfollowed Sony on Social media) to continue playing the character.
This was to be expected from the fans. I mean, the character just got introduced into the MCU, and with another two movie currently in the works, fans wanted to see this trend continue. So they see Sony as the villain in this play. However, from business standpoint, Sony had no choice to refuse and one would argue, made the right decisions in declining that offer. You see, had Sony accepted that deal, Sony would in effect, hand over 50% of not only their biggest assets, but also half everything that comes from that assets. That means, Venom, Kraven and anything that ties in with Spider-Man would in turn be also in control by Disney. So one might say it’s Disney that’s being greedy over here. Sony is not in a position to lose their biggest money-making IP.
Of course, you’re probably saying to yourself right now “but Marvel is Spider-Man’s home, Stan Lee would’ve have wanted this“! Well, a lot can happen when you leave home for a long time, and Disney and Marvel aren’t the heroes we all would like them to be! According to an interview with TMZ, JC Lee, daughter of the late Stan Lee had this to say:
“Marvel and Disney seeking total control of my father’s creations must be checked and balanced by others who, while still seeking to profit, have genuine respect for Stan Lee and his legacy. Whether it’s Sony or someone else’s, the continued evolution of Stan’s characters and his legacy deserves multiple points of view.Â
When my father died, no one from Marvel or Disney reached out to me. From day one, they have commoditized my father’s work and never shown him or his legacy any respect or decency. In the end, no one could have treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney’s executives.”
So maybe Disney and Marvel having that much control over Spider-Man might not be the best thing for the character and the legacy of the character. And it’s also sickening to hear how they treated the man who created their money-printing empire that they have today. I mean, we already can see how Marvel and Disney are out here changing characters to meet certain political agendas, so who’s to say that they won’t do the same to Spider-man and disrespect the hell out of Stan Lee.
So yeah, we will have to wait and see what Disney will do as Sony from my point of view are in a much better position that Marvel. Lets not forget that despite how you may feel about Venom, that movie did well financially, which is what businesses care about and Spider-Verse won an Oscar so they’re on the right track. And with Marvel losing it’s biggest card, Robert Downey Jr aka Iron-Man, which many of us can agree was the driving force for all of the MCU, they need Spider-Man more than ever right now if they hope to keep that massive snowball of success rolling.
That’s my thoughts on it, let me know what you guys think?
