Disney and Sony Studio Heads Discuss the Spider-Man Dispute

The month of August was a dark time for Marvel and Spider-Man fans. Disney and Sony had a very public dispute, and according to legitimate Hollywood trades; the deal was 100% dead before Tom Holland swung in to save the day.

In a feature today in The Hollywood Reporter, Disney’s Alan Horn and Sony’s Tom Rothman commented on the dispute:

Alan and Tom, you recently had a little dispute over Spider-Man. What was the one thing above all else that resolved that standoff over Marvel producing the next Sony installment?

HORN The fan base, which is important to all of us, seemed to really respond to what Tom and his folks have done before with our people. They like the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Kevin Feige were involved [in the two Spider-Man films]. We heard feedback out there that suggested that joining forces once again was probably really a good idea.

Will this partnership continue after the trilogy? Tom, you’ve shown you can do Spider-Man without Marvel on the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

ROTHMAN Yes, we have. But I agree with my distinguished colleague. This was a classic win-win-win. A win for Sony, a win for Disney, a win for the fans. The only thing I would say is that news cycles and the rhythm of negotiations do not necessarily overlap. And this is, in the words of Shakespeare, a consummation devoutly to be wished. We would have gotten there, and the news got ahead of some things.

HORN I agree with that.

The new deal will allow Sony to reference the MCU in their movies, and there is a rumor that J. Jonah Jameson will appear in Morbius to link the universes. This new arrangement they have works for both sides, as Tom Rothman called it a “win-win-win”, meaning as long as Sony is happy with the arrangement; fans probably don’t have to worry about Spider-Man’s future for quite a while.