As the first half of 2021 closes in and movie studios finally have a much clearer scope of what the rest of the year will be like, Marvel fans will be particularly excited about the return of one most glorified heroes, Spider-Man. While this was the year that saw Disney Plus ease the MCU’s transition to TV, it goes without saying that Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, and the soon-to-release Loki do not command the same type of attention as Peter Parker.
Since his inception in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy series by Marvel Comics, Spider-Man has pretty much been the company’s go-to guy, the one to break most barriers and enter other forms of media, and while Stan Lee -like most parents- was always reluctant to pick a favorite, it’s safe to say Peter Parker always held a special place in his heart. Unsurprisingly, it’s not that different with audiences as even today Spider-Man remains the undisputed world champion when it comes to internet traffic over the past 5 years, according to Google Trends.
On the face of it, Spider-Man is the perfect superhero for a long-running show that streaming consumers would absolutely adore as Peter Parker’s daily life as a young man in New York City makes for the perfect blend of high-stakes action with a hint of light-heartedness. Spider-Man definitely has enough villains and universes so that writers can take their pick at which of these multiple iterations they would tackle, so it could actually be pulled off without committing or compromising too much on the stories that are being told in movies at any given time, this is after all the kind of magic evoked by the two recent Spider-Man games on the PlayStation, albeit those games not being tied to any other media.
It’s really something that’s been done many times, at least in animated form, most prominently with Spider-Man: The Animated Series or the many other animation initiatives that can currently be found on Disney Plus, most of which are definitely worth a watch for those who have never dabbled in them. The latest of these were in fact former Disney XD exclusives, which just like all spider-themed merchandise that can be found in Disney stores happens to belong to Disney; unlike theme park right, which is an entirely different ordeal because, well, that’s simply the way the Spider-Man property rolls nowadays.
In a similar manner to Deadpool, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, the whole Spiderverse is trapped in a huge corporate entanglement that barely works well enough to get Tom Holland to show up and join the Avengers’ MCU towards the end of Phase Three. However, that sole reminder of Spider-Man’s ownership arrangements is exactly where the complications start to show, as even if Sony and Disney were to agree on a way to bring Peter Parker over to television that was to suit both parties’ plans, perhaps it’s a case of lack of willingness considering the friendly neighborhood superhero might altogether be too big of a name for his own series.
Disney and Marvel Studios’ plans clearly draw a line between the types of heroes that get movie treatment and the ones that go straight to film, with cinemas being reserved for the bigger names and streaming for niche sidekick characters who are bound to get an MCU upgrade soon. In Spider-Man’s case, he and Black Panther have been the only Marvel heroes who come somewhat close to rivaling the entire Avengers’ box office records, with the added benefit of running on a much smaller budget.
Sony and Disney’s current agreement leaves room for Spider-Man: Far From Home, as well as an extra appearance from Holland in a still unknown MCU project, and from there on it’s pretty much one huge question mark as to what Sony will choose to do with Marvel’s finest hero. The way things stand right now, Sony can continue to hold on to Spider-Man’s film rights as long as the studio churns out a new movie at least every five years, something which so far they’ve been more than happy to do so in order to guarantee those sweet profit margins.
Lastly, there’s a bit of an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” component to Spider-Man as even the most criticized Sam Raimi movie (Spider-Man 3) and Andrew Garfield’s second outing, despite their obvious character bloat and thus weaker plots, still have salvageable elements to them. What all this means is there are very few incentives in play for all parties involved to even consider exporting any web-swinger to television, so for those who think a friendly TV Spider-Man would be a good idea, their best bet still lies in firing up some old -or not so old- cartoons.
