Los Angeles (AFP)
Failing agreement with their competitor Sony to produce future films starring Spider-Man, Marvel studios have decided to withdraw from the project to focus on other superhero franchises, said Tuesday several US specialty media .
Marvel, bought in 2009 by the Disney group, holds the rights of many superheroes from comics created by Stan Lee (Avengers, Black Panther, etc.) and now also has access to those in the lap of the Fox (X- Men especially) that Disney has just acquired.
But Sony has the film rights of Spider-Man. For decades, the spider-man has been the "crown jewel" of the comics on which Marvel built his empire. He is also one of the most successful superheroes in the film industry, including an Oscar last year for the animated movie "Spider-Man: New Generation".
It took a historic and confidential agreement in 2015 between Sony and Marvel to allow Spider-Man to integrate the storyline of the Marvel universe (five films in total, including "Spider-Man: Homecoming" in 2017 and "Spider-Man -Man: Far From Home "this summer).
Despite the critical and financial successes of these films starring the young Tom Holland in the famous red and blue suit, the two Hollywood giants have not found common ground to continue their partnership, say the specialized media.
According to the Deadline site, the origin of the information, Disney had asked Sony to be able to further finance future Spider-Man movies to get in return a larger share of revenue. But Sony declined, wishing to maintain the terms of the current partnership.
Two films with the spider-man are still in the works with Tom Holland and director John Watts, which should be produced without Marvel and his president Kevin Feige.
The future of the spider-man in the Marvel universe is all the more uncertain as Marvel has completed the Avengers saga with "Avengers: Endgame" and Marvel is now entering a new phase. The program is already loaded with among others the Black Widow, Thor, Doctor Strange, the Chinese superhero Shang Chi, and the return of the vampire hunter Blade.
"Spider-Man: Far From Home" has recently become Sony's biggest financial success, ahead of James Bond and "Skyfall", with over a billion dollars in revenue worldwide.
Neither Disney nor Sony have officially responded to this information.
© 2019 AFP