Tom Holland Helped Keep Spider-Man In The MCU
Spider-Man fans had a rough couple of weeks when it was revealed the deal between Sony and Marvel was kaput, and that Tom Holland's Spidey was leaving the MCU. But cooler heads prevailed, and Spider-Man will remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for now. And it looks like fans have Holland himself to thank for that. A new report reveals that Holland reached out to both Sony and Marvel in order to make a new deal happen.
We may never know the entire story of what happened behind-the-scenes of the Sony/Marvel Spider-Man kerfuffle. But according to THR, Tom Holland played a major role in keeping Spidey in the MCU. Sources say Holland "made multiple appeals to Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger and Sony film chairman Tom Rothman to reach a resolution, announced Sept. 27, for Marvel to produce a third Spider-Man movie for Sony, and for the character to appear in at least one additional Disney-Marvel film."
Holland also "leaned on Rothman to re-engage with Disney", something he was able to do thanks to the clout of starring in Sony's upcoming Uncharted adaptation. Holland then reached out to Iger and pleaded with him to return to negotiations with Sony. Holland also made sure to bring up the fan support for Spider-Man to remain in the MCU.
In the end, Disney and Sony came to a deal – a deal which apparently swings in Disney's favor. Per THR:
Disney won a considerable stake in a new movie, up from a nominal producing fee that sources say amounted to less than 5 percent of the gross for each of the first two Spider-Man films....Marvel chief Kevin Feige...will run creative point. Disney will earn 25 percent of net gross on a third Spider-Man — opening July 16, 2021 — and chip in 25 percent of the budget.
With that in mind, I'm sure Disney is going to be sending Tom Holland an Edible Arrangement as a thank you gift very soon. While I personally have no stake in any of this – I'm a lowly film journalist eating his meals out of tin cans over here, folks; what the hell do I care about the business deals of the rich and famous – this is ultimately good news for fans who really wanted at least one more Spider-Man adventure in the MCU. Especially since Spider-Man: Far From Home ends on a pretty big cliffhanger that can now be resolved. Unless Feige and company want to be real jerks about things and end the next movie in a cliffhanger as well.