Will Spider-Man make an appearance in the climactic finale of Marvel’s ever expanding movie universe? Are we finally going to see him trading quips on screen with Robert Downey Jr.?
Yes… And then no.
Let’s backtrack a little and explain what happened.
Yesterday, Dave over at Latino Review reported that our favourite webslinger, heretofore absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will indeed be making an appearance in Avengers: Infinity War 2. According to the leak, Captain America: Civil War will see Steve Rogers killed and Iron Man sent off to space (potentially joining up with Chris Pratt and the Guardians of the Galaxy). The leak also hints that Thor and his Asgardian homies will be locked away in some kind of galactic prison, thus taking him out of the picture too.
For those of you who are more DC oriented, this is essentially like making a Justice League movie with no Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. It appears that all of the new characters getting movies in Marvel’s phase three stage, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, and Ant-Man among others, are going to be the stars of Infinity War part 1, with the “big three” making an epic return for part 2. Including, allegedly, the resurrection of Captain America.
While all this is still conjecture, it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. What better way to introduce a whole new cast then giving them their own, gigantic movie? There’s no way any film with the word Avengers in the title will be anything less than a blockbuster, thus ensuring the further success of solo films for each of the featured heroes.
But by far Marvel’s biggest cash cow, indeed the comic industry’s number one franchise, is Spider-Man. Over the last several months there have been rumours aplenty surrounding Mr. Parker and the battle for movie rights between Sony and Disney. With lacklustre box office numbers and a not-so-great critical reception, the latest Spider-Man movies have really put Sony into a corner as to what should be done with the character. As Marvel prints money and laughs from their shiny new golden Disney castle, it’s only a matter of time before Sony cracks and sells the rights back to Marvel. What better way to re-introduce the character than feature him in what will easily be the biggest, boldest and most lucrative comic book movie on the horizon.
Alas, the guys over at Comic Book Resources have reached out to Sony to confirm or
deny this rumour, and they responded with sad news for Marvel fans.
Will Spidey appear in Infinity War?
Not as of yet, with Sony reps telling CBR that this news is an “old rumor” with “no validity whatsoever.”
Oh well, it’s still years away, and after the infamous hack scandal, Sony Pictures is not in good shape, which means that they are more likely than ever to bite the bullet and get some cash out of the deal while they still can. Regardless of this official statement, I know that myself and many others will be staying in the theatre to watch the inevitable post-credits teaser in Captain America: Civil War with high hopes that a certain red and blue wall-crawler will be making his official MCU debut.
