Spider-Man has been a great addition to the MCU, but he carries a lot of studio baggage with him. For those who don’t know, Marvel Studios gets to control the creative direction of the Spider-Man character and use him in non-Spider-Man movies (likeCaptain America: Civil WarandAvengers: Infinity War), and in exchange, Sony reaps all the profit from their revitalizedSpider-Manfranchise starringTom Holland. Where things get tricky is that Sony also owns the right to everything fromSpider-Man’s universe likeVenomand the upcomingMorbius. Marvel Studios gets no say in what happens in those movies, and naturally, Sony would like to use their Spider-Man character again because it means boosting the box office of a futureVenommovie.
At theSpider-Man: Far From Homejunket,CinemaBlendasked Marvel Studios headKevin Feigeabout the possibility of a crossover between Spider-Man and Venom. Feige responded:
I think probably it’s up to Sony. Sony has both those characters and, has Venom in their world. I don’t know what their plans are for anotherVenomor if they’re doing that. But it seems likely at some point.
He doesn’t sound too enthused about that, and I get it! He’s not like, “Boy, won’t it be great to see Spidey and Venom share the screen again!” because Feige doesn’t get a say overVenom. For some, that’s a good thing. You’re not going to see a Marvel movie whereTom Hardygets in a lobster tank or talks about turds in the wind. But because Marvel Studios doesn’t own Spider-Man, and their current hold on the character is for a limited number of movies, Feige has to kind of roll with it. He may not be particularly excited about a Venom and Spider-Man crossover, but it’s not his call to make. It’s Sony’s, and we shouldn’t be surprised if that crossover arrives sometime in the next five years or so.
