Jeremy Renner And Ryan Reynolds React To The Spider-Man/Marvel Rift; Spidey-Themed Protest Planned [Updated]

Update: Predictably, a Change.org petition about this is now making the rounds. Get the details below.

Yesterday, the internet collectively lost its mind over the news that Spider-Man may be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since then, we've gotten some updates about the story that makes the whole situation feel like more of an ongoing negotiation than a totally done deal, but still, people are very attached to this character and don't want to see him cut off from the established ties to the MCU.

Jeremy Renner (Avengers: Endgame) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) are among the many who have weighed in with their thoughts on the matter, and you can read their takes below. Plus, there's a protest brewing that might result in Sony Pictures having a very...interesting Halloween.

Tom Holland's Avengers: Endgame co-star Jeremy Renner is the only primary Marvel cast member to speak out about the announcement so far on social media, but here made a plea for Sony to work things out:

Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds – who will eventually be joining the MCU as Deadpool, now that Disney owns Fox's film assets – acknowledged the news by responding to a fan on Twitter:

You can. But you can only see it in my heart.

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 20, 2019

Update: As you probably expected, a Change.org petition is circulating requesting that Spider-Man stay with Disney and the MCU. Over 20,000 people have signed it so far (despite the fact that the person who created it doesn't capitalize the "M" in Spider-Man). I can't think of a time when a Change.org petition has actually worked when aimed at a major Hollywood production, but more power to you, I guess?

Meanwhile, it appears that some people have, without irony, called for fans to "#BoycottSony" in the wake of this news. Look, we love Tom Holland's Spider-Man too, but calling for a boycott of Sony's films over this seems like...well, a bit much. And speaking of going too far, GeekTyrant points us to a Facebook event called "Storm Sony and Bring Spider-Man Home to the MCU." The entirety of the event's "About" section reads as follows:

"We storm Sony Pictures in solidarity dressed in Spider-Man costumes and bring our boy home!"

As of this writing, 2,500 people claim they will participate – but it's unclear how many are saying they'll go just for the lolz. The image of several thousand people dressed up as Spider-Man and gathering at the gates of Sony Pictures on Halloween is something that would have amused me a few years ago. But we're living in such an unhinged world right now that I'm genuinely worried about this going completely sideways, and a deranged fan doing something insane like shooting a Sony security guard, all because they don't like the idea of a fictional character not being able to interact with other fictional characters in a movie. Hopefully this situation will be resolved long before Halloween, and we won't have to think about this again. But if this protest does move forward, I hope it's peaceful and everyone stays safe out there.