How An MCU Spider-Man Show Is Happening Despite Marvel/Sony Deal Ending

Marvel Studios has announced an animated Spider-Man TV series that will air exclusively on Disney+, and here's how they're able to produce it without Sony's involvement. As part of Disney+ Day, Marvel revealed an animated MCU Spider-Man prequel series in the works. Entitled Marvel Studios' Spider-Man: Freshman Year, it's confirmed to be MCU canon - presumably set before the events of Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The MCU has been reluctant to tell Spider-Man's origin story, ostensibly because they felt it was unnecessary. After all, it's already been adapted twice for the big screen. In reality, though, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has long hinted the real reason for Marvel's reticence was because they felt it created more story possibilities. "There are little things that are said here and there that people can read into," he observed in an interview with CinemaBlend. "What the specific facts are in the past, we don't... we haven't revealed yet." Spider-Man's origin and initial time as a superhero has been retconned and rewritten countless times even in the comics, so the story possibilities are vast. Still, one question that's being pondered by many viewers: how can Marvel make Spider-Man: Freshman Year, given the film rights still sit with another studio, and the wall-crawler is only part of the MCU at all because of agreement deals between Marvel and Sony? The question seems all the more pressing given Tom Holland's contract is ending after Spider-Man: No Way Home, although Marvel seem optimistic about continuing to work with Sony going forward.

Sony traditionally owned Spider-Man's TV rights, and in 2008 that led to the launch of the popular and critically acclaimed Spectacular Spider-Man series. That show came to an abrupt end, however, when Sony and Marvel reached a deal in which Sony gained certain concessions for live-action films, in return for giving up some of the animation rights. A copy of the Spider-Man licenses leaked in 2014, and it revealed Sony's rights now encompass three areas:

Live-action and animated movies
Live-action TV series
Animated series with episodes longer than 44 minutes

This explains why Marvel can make Spider-Man: Freshman Year. Presumably, the episodes will be only half an hour in length, akin to What If...? or the live-action She-Hulk series. It also explains why Marvel's animated What If...? series could use Spider-Man. No further agreements are required between Marvel and Sony.

It's doubtful Tom Holland will voice Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Freshman Year. Not only is the actor pretty busy, his contract has also traditionally been with Sony. Holland is willing to extend his Spider-Man contract, but that would likely be for more live-action movies. What If...? set a precedent for other voice actors playing the character when Marvel hired Hudson Thames for the part instead, and it's likely other members of Spider-Man's supporting cast will be similarly recast. One actress who could potentially return without contractual complications is Laura Harrier, who played Peter's love interest Liz Allan in the first film. She seems to have only been contracted with Sony for a single movie, so it's possible Marvel would be able to bring her back, assuming the actress was interested in returning for a voice role.

It's going to be interesting to finally see Spider-Man's MCU origin story, and hopefully the story will also introduce the MCU's Uncle Ben, finally doing justice to a character whose influence has been almost absent in the MCU to date. While there won't be any supervillains - Vulture was supposed to be Spider-Man's first supervillain in the MCU - there will surely be lots of thrills and action, as well as a great deal of humor, as Peter Parker adapts to his new life as Spider-Man.

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