Marvel And Sony Reportedly Have A New Strategy For Sharing Spider-Man Characters, And I Have To Wonder How It’ll Affect Tom Holland’s Return

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going strong for years now, and is showing no signs of slowing down. New releases are constantly coming in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription, although there are a few upcoming Marvel movies that fans desperate for information about. Chief among them is the next Spider-Man movie, with fans curious about what comes next. Marvel and Sony reportedly have a new strategy for sharing Spider-Man characters, and I have to wonder how it’ll affect Tom Holland’s return.

Ever since Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending was revealed, fans have been wondering how the beloved franchise will continue its run in theaters. Updates about Spider-Man 4 have been limited, especially since Tom Holland was taking a break from acting. And a report by CBM claims that Sony and Marvel's joint custody of the character has taken a turn.

Per this report, Sony is going to start letting Kevin Feige and powers that be at Marvel know about which Spider-Man villains they plan to use for future projects. And the MCU will allegedly be blocked from using those same characters until after each new release hits VOD for 30 days. So what does it all mean?

To start, Sony is making sure that it uses its leverage and power over Spider-Man lore to create very specific boundaries with the other studio. But it also may open the door for new narrative possibilities in the MCU. Namely because Marvel should be able to utilize some of the same characters, as long as it follows the rules set.

This means that Marvel might be able to utilize certain Sony characters in the future, such as Kraven the Hunter or Madame Web. While the latter might be a stretch, the Kraven movie prevented Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character from being utilized in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order know that a number of Spider-Man characters have been noticeably missing from the Tom Holland's adventures in the MCU. While No Way Home brought back characters from the previous two franchises, this was only possible because Sony didn't have any plans for villains like Electro and the Green Goblin. But under this new agreement, Marvel will seemingly be able to pull from more characters from the comics, as long as it does adequate planning to work around Sony.

Since fans are so curious about Tom Holland's fourth Spider-Man movie, this reported deal between Sony and Marvel is likely going to inspire some fan theories about what might be coming next. We'll just have to wait for information from the studio... whenever that might be.

The next MCU movie hitting theaters is Captain America: Brave New World on February 14th. For now, check the 2025 movie release dates.