Marvel's Release Delays Show How The MCU Needs Spider-Man (& Sony)

Screen Rant

By Adrienne Tyler

Published Apr 28, 2020

Sony moved the release dates for Venom 2 and Spider-Man 3, which in turn meant more changes in the MCU, proving how important Spidey is.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many studios keep rescheduling their upcoming films, and Marvel Studios is no exception. The Marvel Cinematic Universe had already gone through a schedule update, but Sony delaying Venom 2 and Spider-Man 3 pushed it to make more changes to Phase 4, further showing how much it needs Spider-Man. After living under Sony’s roof for years and going through two different versions – Sam Raimi’s trilogy and Marc Webb’s films – Spider-Man was finally allowed to join the MCU after Sony and Marvel reached a deal in 2015.

Spider-Man made his MCU debut in 2016 in Captain America: Civil War, and got his first solo film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, the following year, with Tom Holland as the new Peter Parker. Spider-Man went on to appear in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame before going on his second solo adventure, Spider-Man: Far From Home. His future in the MCU went through a rough patch in August 2019 when Sony and Marvel’s deal broke down, but a new one was reached a month later, securing Spider-Man’s MCU future for a bit longer.

The young hero is set to return for a third solo film, and it’s unknown if he will show up in others like he did in Civil War and the final Avengers films. As mentioned above, the coronavirus emergency has pushed studios to reorganize the release dates of their upcoming projects, and Sony’s Spider-Man 3 delay had consequences in the MCU’s Phase 4 schedule, which shows how important the character is to this connected universe.

How Marvel Release Delays Show Spider-Man’s Power & Importance

The MCU’s version of Spider-Man became an instant fan favorite as well as Iron Man’s apprentice, and might very well take the lead in this new wave of films now that Tony Stark is dead. Fans are eagerly waiting for Spider-Man’s next adventure on the big screen, and they didn’t react favorably to him leaving the MCU when the deal broke. Marvel is aware of how important Spider-Man is now, so it had to find a way to at least give it closure on its side of the superhero universe. Spider-Man 3’s release date wasn’t changed when the rest of the MCU’s Phase 4 schedule was, but ultimately, Sony is the one holding power over Spider-Man’s future.

The upcoming films in Sony’s Marvel Universe are Morbius and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which had to be delayed and will now release on March 19, 2021, and June 25, 2021, respectively. Spider-Man 3 was originally scheduled for a July 2021 release, but changing Morbius and Venom 2’s release dates meant changing Spider-Man’s as well, and will now arrive in November, 2021. Because everything is connected in the MCU, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder got new release dates to accommodate Spider-Man’s return, and it’s worth noting that he was originally going to return between Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4. These new changes show that Spider-Man and Sony are more important (and powerful) than previously thought, and whatever the studio decides to do with the character will deeply affect the MCU on many levels.