Disney’s Greed Cost Us Spider-Man
Spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home follow.
Spider-Man may be out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for good and nearly everyone is pointing the fingers at Sony. After all, the two worst films in the franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, were spawned from their corporate pressure. Their deal with Marvel was a dream come true. Spidey, now under the guise of Tom Holland, shined in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home, forging a moving relationship with Tony Stark. The last film ended on a cliffhanger, with Spidey’s identity being revealed to the public like in the Civil War comics. Of course, the MCU has been far from perfect with Spider-Man. The CGI is overused and colorful style of Sam Raimi is dearly missed. Now Sony’s made a come-back with the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, which is the best Spider-Man movie since Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. With this newfound victory, they seem perfectly content to leave Disney and make their own Spidey films, but history has a habit of repeating itself. It is this history of failure that cause many to attack Sony for keeping the web-slinger to themselves, but let’s not let the Mouse off the hook here.
If what Deadline Hollywood reports is accurate, then Disney and Sony were unable to come to a deal due to a profit dispute. Under the current terms, Disney gets 5% of the first dollar gross of every solo Spider-Man film. Disney wanted to increase this to a 50/50 sharing, which would supposedly include other in-universe Spider-Man films. Sony executives Tom Rothman and Tony Vinciquerra allegedly made other offers, but were turned down. Sony is planning two solo Spider-Man movies with Holland, and they’ll probably crossover with Tom Hardy’s Venom. Spider-Man’s whole arc with Iron Man will be wiped, along with his experiences with Thanos and the Avengers. Just as the MCU finally got the rights to The Fantastic Four and X-Men, they’ll now have to act as if Spidey never existed. What a disaster! Sony’s decision to leave was terrible, but given the circumstances, I can’t really blame them.
I have yet to hear a good excuse for Disney’s alleged behavior. Yes, 5% is a small share, but Christ, they don’t need the money. Disney owns Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, Hulu, ESPN, National Geographic, and now, 20th Century Fox. Their brand name is so well-known that they can make millions from shot-for-shot remakes of their animated films. This year, they became the first studio to make five films that grossed over $1 billion in the same year. With Avengers: Endgame now the highest grossing film of all time. In fact, of the top ten highest grossing films of all time, six of them are Disney properties. Of the top ten highest grossing media franchises of all time, five of them are owned by Disney.
On the other hand, Sony’s two most attempts at franchise revival Ghostbusters (2016) and Men in Black: International (2019), have ended in disappointment, and their contract to co-produce James Bond has ended. Spider-Man is their only big money draw, and even then, Disney still owns all the merchandise profits. And now they want 50/50? Toss off! Disney could’ve just as easily kept the arrangement as it was, with a few modifications, and they’d hardly be a poorer company for it. They own so much of media now that they feel entitled to everything in it. They’ll squeeze the competition of every penny, the fans be damned. As the late Harlan Ellison warned, “At Disney, nobody fucks with the Mouse.”
Now, I don’t hate Disney. They still make good movies, especially with Marvel, but if the reports speak true, then this is a clear-cut case of corporate avarice, and Disney should be ashamed. All is not lost, though. There’s still room for hope. If we all raise our voices, Disney can still do the right thing.
#SaveSpidey
