The Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off with a post-credits scene at the end of 2008's Iron Man, with Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury approaching Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark about something called the Avengers Initiative. The MCU has since grown to include 14 films, a number of television offshoots on both ABC and Netflix, and a whole slate of movies in various stages of development. Although the MCU had earned plenty of favor among fans, the excitement ramped up with the annoucement of Marvel Studios partnering with Sony Pictures to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel movie universe.

Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) made his MCU debut earlier this year in Captain America: Civil War, which received plenty of praise from fans and critics alike. Now, Holland is set to reprise his role as the web-slinging hero in next summer's Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Spidey solo vehicle has plenty of buzz surrounding it at the moment, since the first trailer debuted yesterday, and now Sony seems to be capitalizing on that buzz.

Deadline is reporting Sony has announced and dated the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, with the film set to premiere Friday, July 5, 2019. It remains to be seen whether Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts, or the film's scripting duo Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley, will return. Additionally, an official title for Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 has yet to be revealed.

Spider-Man Homecoming - Robert Downey Jr and Tom Holland

As of now, three MCU entries are scheduled to debut in 2019, with Captain Marvel -- starring Brie Larson as the titular superhero -- and the fourth Avengers installment, which has yet to receive an official title, slated for March and May respectively. Considering these release dates are front-loaded in the spring and summer of 2019, it seems possible Marvel may debut a fourth feature in the fall or winter. And, with the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel's placement after Avengers 4, it may be kicking off Phase 4 (or, as was the case with Ant-Man, it may be closing out Phase 3).

Of course, Sony's annoucement of a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming arrives even before the film has hit theaters -- nearly seven months before, in fact. Considering Homecoming kicks off the third version of Spider-Man on the big screen in 15 years, and it's much too early to tell how well the character's MCU entry will perform at the box office, it remains to be seen whether the move to green light a sequel so far in advance proves to be overconfident.

That said, given the immensely positive reception of the first trailer for Spider-Man's solo film, Sony and Marvel have reason to be confident in their web-slinging hero. Plus, Holland's turn as Peter Parker in Civil War was so well received, many fans have named it their favorite on-screen iteration of the character. So, since the MCU continues to grow in popularity and success, green-lighting another film starring one of Marvel comics' most beloved superheroes seems like a smart move.

Next: Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer Breakdown

Source: Deadline

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