Spider-Man will stay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a stunning reversal for Disney and Sony

• Sony Pictures announced on Friday that Spider-Man would stay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige coproducing the third "Spider-Man" movie in the MCU.
• Sony and Disney had previously failed to reach a deal over the character's future in the MCU.
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Sony Pictures announced on Friday that Spider-Man would stay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige would coproduce the third "Spider-Man" movie in the MCU.

The news is a dramatic reversal for Sony and Disney, which had previously failed to reach a deal over the character's future in the MCU.

Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man and over 900 related Marvel characters and can keep them as long as it releases a "Spider-Man" movie every five years. But in 2015, the studio reached a deal with Disney's Marvel Studios for the character to appear in MCU movies while Sony coproduced and retained distribution rights.

Deadline reported in August that Disney wanted a 50/50 cofinancing stake in future "Spider-Man" movies and that Sony didn't budge on its then-current deal, in which Disney received up to 5% first-dollar gross and all merchandising revenue.

"I am thrilled that Spidey's journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it," Feige said in a statement. "Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold."

Star Tom Holland will return to the role of Spider-Man for the third movie, which is scheduled for release on July 16, 2021.