Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7, 2017)

It’s Official: Spider-Man Enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios officially announced today that Sony is bringing Marvel into the amazing world of Spider-Man! As such, Marvel Studios has also shifted its upcoming release calendar.

Under a new deal, a new Spider-Man will first appear in a currently-unspecified Marvel film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films.

Marvel and Sony Pictures are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films.

The new relationship follows a decade of speculation among fans about whether Spider-Man – who has always been an integral and important part of the larger Marvel Universe in the comic books – could become part of the Marvel Universe on the big screen. Spider-Man has more than 50 years of history in Marvel’s world, and with this deal, fans will be able to experience Spider-Man taking his rightful place among other super heroes in the MCU.

“Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s great characters,” says Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company, “beloved around the world. We’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures to bring the iconic web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which opens up fantastic new opportunities for storytelling and franchise building.”

“We always want to collaborate with the best and most successful filmmakers to grow our franchises and develop our characters. Marvel, Kevin Feige and Amy, who helped orchestrate this deal, are the perfect team to help produce the next chapter of Spider-Man,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans.”

“Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios share a love for the characters in the Spider-Man universe and have a long, successful history of working together. This new level of collaboration is the perfect way to take Peter Parker’s story into the future,” added Doug Belgrad, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.

“I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “Amy has been deeply involved in the realization on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.”

Spider-Man, embraced all over the world, is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures, with the five films having taken in more than $4 billion worldwide.

As a result of the new deal, Thor: Ragnarok will now arrive nearly four months later than planned, moving to November 3, 2017 (from July 28). Black Panther, which previously held that spot, gets delayed eight months, going from that original November 3 date to July 6, 2018. That, in turn, bumps Captain Marvel to Novebmer 2, 2018 and moves Inhumans all the way to July 12, 2019. The two-part Avengers: Infinity War, meanwhile, remains set for release May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019.