Once upon a time, there was a little storytelling company called Marvel Comics. They wove together countless tales of people with fantastic abilities, and the children of the land read these stories with eagerness and delight. They did quite alright for themselves – but then came two young workers who had something really special in mind.
Stan and Steve were two young workers at the storytelling company. During their time there, they had worked hard to make stories that weren’t just for kids, but grown-ups too. They came up with new characters all the time, but one day they came up with the idea of a very unique character to tell stories about. Unlike many characters that the company had created over the years, this character would be constantly down-on-his-luck. Many characters with special powers had risen to fame and fortune, but Stan insisted that this time, the hero should be more like the people who read their stories – ordinary people who had to deal with hardships all the time. This character would be ‘just a kid’ with one incredible difference: he’d have the proportionate powers and abilities of a spider. In 1962, their first story about the “Spider-Man” was shared with the world.
Well, in no time at all, Spider-Man had become the best-selling character that these storytellers had ever thought up. He had adventures big and small – sometimes on his own, and sometimes joined by other characters from Marvel’s ever-growing library. People all across the land gobbled up the stories, becoming increasingly hungry for the next exciting adventure of the webbed wonder. And though Steve and Stan were proud of their success, it soon became evident that even their prized creation wasn’t enough to keep the company afloat on its own. Just like the mild-mannered Peter Parker who lived under Spider-Man’s mask, Marvel Comics found itself running out of money.
A Deal With The Devil
Now there was one company in particular that was interested in taking Marvel’s characters. Their name was Sony. Whereas Marvel had always been a group of storytellers, this company had actually started as an electronics manufacturer. Due to their success and never-ending lust for growth, they had swallowed up game developers, managers of finance, musicians, and even filmmakers in their quest to be one of the largest companies in the world. Seeing the struggling plight of Marvel Comics, Sony spied an opportunity. But while Marvel had hundreds upon hundreds of exciting characters, Sony only wanted Marvel’s top prize – Spider-Man.
Marvel Comics needed money fast, or they would be forced to shut their doors permanently. Fortunately, a new kind of storytelling had risen to prominence in the past several decades – filmmaking. Marvel realized that they could share their stories with filmmakers, who would spin incredible larger-than-life tales about the characters Marvel had spent years growing. These new storytellers would pay Marvel to use the characters, and as a result, Marvel would survive. It was their only option, and for the sake of everything they had built, they didn’t waste it.
Marvel made a deal with the devil. Sony handed Marvel enough money to stay in business, and in exchange, Sony received the right to make films about Spider-Man…forever. As long as Sony paid Marvel a small sum every time they did, and as long as they made a Spider-Man film every 6 years, they could keep the masked arachnid within their clutches for eternity. Spider-Man would be separated from the Marvel characters he had shared so many stories with in the past, but it seemed that this was the only way. And at first, it seemed like this was a dream come true for the people of the land. In hiring a director by the name of Sam and an actor named Tobey, Sony created the first-ever theatrical live-action Spider-Man film. It was an enormous success. Stan and Steve’s young hero had found a new home where he could be adored and loved by millions. He had everything that they had first envisioned – great power, great responsibility, and an unfortunate streak of bad luck. It was true that he had left behind the heroes he had grown up with, but his film success seemed enough to drown out the sadness. Sam and Tobey released a second film not long after which outdid the first. Spider-Man was now the biggest superhero in the world. Though the profits went to Sony, the fame was shared with Marvel. It seemed that this deal was everything they had needed and more.
The Fall of the Spider-Men
But Sony was not sated by the enormous success that their filmmakers had thus far achieved. As Sam began to prepare a third film that would bring Spider-Man’s cinematic journey to thrilling new heights, Sony stepped in. They wanted a story stuffed with villains – a story that brought Stan’s brainchild to his knees by pulling him into darkness. Sam tried to resist, but the grip of Sony was too great. Stan and Steve could do nothing to intervene – their prized possession was out of their hands now. The third Spider-Man film collapsed upon itself, receiving scorn and disdain throughout the world. It was here that Marvel began to realize what they had done. They had given their child away to a guardian who cared nothing for the wellbeing of the child – only for the money that their child could make them.
Marvel had only one hope of escaping their contract – if Sony went 6 years without making a Spider-Man film, their wayward son would return home. And with the failure of Sam’s third Spider-film, it seemed like this might be possible. One year went by – and then another – and then another…until five years had passed since the tumultuous third chapter of Peter Parker’s cinematic life had been released to the world. With the contract deadline just months away, Marvel was almost close enough to hold their long lost treasure.
Then came the reboot.
Sony had cast out Sam and Tobey, starting over with a director named Marc and a young actor named Andrew who had grown up reading the stories that Stan and Steve had told together so long ago. Though the actor loved Spider-Man as much as any fan could, he was helpless against the control of Sony. The film was far from the historic low set by Spider-Man 3, but Spider-Man had lost a piece of himself in the process. Instead of being a social outcast trying to hold his life together, he became a handsome, charismatic young adventurer with a mysterious past.
But what truly broke the heart of Marvel was not the Spider-Man story that had been released, but the story that had not. You see, in the years between Spider-Man 3 and Marc’s The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel had been taken under the wing of another massive company, Disney. Though Disney was large and powerful like Sony, it was at its heart a company of storytellers - just like Stan and Steve had been back in the beginning. They knew how to spin stories like no one else could, and just three months before The Amazing Spider-Man was released, they helped Marvel release a movie that changed everything – The Avengers. Using the few characters whose movie rights Marvel had not sold, Disney helped Marvel revolutionize the world of cinematic storytelling with a story that spanned multiple films - each with their own starring character. It was the dawn of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it was Disney’s guidance and direction that allowed Marvel the chance to become more than it had ever been before. But as star-studded as The Avengers was, the world knew that it needed one more hero. And as long as Spider-Man rested in the tight fist of Sony, he could never be in a film with the characters that needed him most.
Sony refused to return Spider-Man to his rightful parents, instead opting to release a nightmarish sequel to Marc and Andrew’s latest film. Just like Sam’s Spider-Man 3, Sony interfered and insisted on more villains, more convoluted plot threads, and more bizarre musical segments than were previously thought possible. The film’s knees buckled under its own weight, and the second Spider-Man fell out of glory just like its predecessor. It seemed that this was Spider-Man’s darkest hour. Was this the legacy that Marvel’s favoured son was doomed to live out? An eternity of reboots and overstuffed sequels?
The Impossible Bargain
As the sun rose a year later during this dark time, a cry rang out across the land. What had seemed an impossible feat had been attained – Spider-Man was going to be in a Marvel Universe film. Disney and Sony had met, discussed, and debated for months. They had settled on an agreement of unprecedented significance.
Sony was unwilling to relinquish their claim to Spider-Man’s ownership, try as Disney might. As much as Sony had proven themselves incapable guardians of the young hero, they were committed to squeezing every penny out of him until there was nothing left. At the same time, Sony knew that if anyone could tell a Spider-Man story that would make money, none would do it better than Marvel themselves. Therefore, Sony’s deal was complex but clear: Marvel would be allowed to produce more of their Marvel Universe films with Spider-Man finally featuring in small or supporting roles throughout those stories. Marvel would also get to produce several standalone Spider-Man films that fit within the overarching story of Marvel’s Universe. In return, Sony would keep 95% of the profit of the standalone films. Marvel would do the work, and Sony would reap the benefits. It was a harsh bargain, but it meant that Spider-Man could finally come home – at least for a while.
Though Sony was far from defeated, it felt as though the curse had been lifted and all was finally as it should be. In almost no time at all, Spider-Man made an appearance in three Marvel Universe films and two films of his own. His first standalone picture was appropriately titled ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, a powerful acknowledgement that the web-head was finally where he belonged. A new actor, Tom, rose to the occasion, and he was the Spider-Man the world had always wanted. He was young, struggling, lovably awkward, and in a world surrounded by the characters he had been separated from for so long. His second standalone film during this time was titled Spider-Man: Far From Home, and it turned out to be the biggest film Sony had ever released.
The Pit of Despair
But just as it had happened twice before, this success proved to be Spider-Man’s own undoing. Still the guardian of Marvel, Disney approached Sony to ask for a more balanced share of the profits. Sony, drunk with their own success, rejected the offer. They believed that they could stand on the back of their newfound accomplishments – though none of it could truly be called their own – and continue to make Spider-Man films on their own strength.
With one swift stroke, Sony tore Spider-Man away from his creators. They would use him, they told the world, to tell more exciting Spider-Man stories…but the world knew the truth was far darker. They knew that a Sony Spider-Man saga always ended in despair. The world wept.
Marvel scrambled to renegotiate. Everything they had done in Spider-Man’s last five movie appearances had been to set him up as the greatest hero the Marvel Universe had ever known. It was as though a boy’s parents had given him up to an orphanage as a child because of their inability to care for him. And when the parents were finally ready to take the child home, the orphanage refused on the basis of their own selfish plans for the boy’s future. The world was on the brink of the greatest chapter yet in Spider-Man’s cinematic history. But Sony could not let go. They would not let go.
The world mourned. Stan and Steve, Spider-Man’s creators from the very beginning, had both passed away, leaving no chance of reassurance that things would turn around. It seemed as though it would have been better to never see Tom’s Spider-Man at all than to see him and lose him.
The Next Chapter
But Disney did not abandon Marvel. Unwilling to give up on the character who changed the world of superheroes forever, Disney met with Sony once more. Behind those closed doors, two of the biggest giants of the industry battled for the soul of Marvel. And when the doors finally opened…Spider-Man was back.
A new deal was struck that allowed Marvel to make one last Spider-Man film – a film that would bring the world the first satisfying conclusion to a Spider-Man trilogy ever. The webbed wonder would also appear in one other Marvel Universe film. Disney had done it.
Although this was a triumph, this is not the end of the story. Spider-Man still ultimately rests in the control of a company that did not create him. The webslinger’s future beyond his next film is uncertain. It also seems likely that Sony will force Tom into portraying Marvel’s prized hero in situations outside of the Marvel Universe, something that has never before been done in the history of cinema. As long as Sony stands, it seems that Spider-Man will never truly come home.
But there is hope.
The curse of Sony will end if they ever fail to produce a Spider-Man film within a period of six consecutive years. And although this scenario seems impossible, there is one other route to salvation. If Sony were to be vanquished – if Sony itself was to be swallowed up by another company – then the curse would be broken and Spider-Man would return to his rightful creators. There are few who could ever hope to conquer such an insurmountable foe…but rumours have been heard that someone has their eye on the mega-corporation. Only time will tell, but as the fans of Spider-Man wait, they take comfort knowing that their hero’s time within the Marvel Universe is not yet finished. Perhaps one day, Peter Parker will finally come home for good, and he and his fellow heroes will all live happily together after.
To see what I thought of Spider-Man: Homecoming, click here.
To see what I thought of Spider-Man: Far From Home, click here.