The Tom Holland ‘Spider-Man’ Solo Movie Is Due Next Year, But Can Sony And Marvel Play Well Together?


The Tom Holland Spider-Man solo movie has a confirmed title, Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Tom Holland Spider-Man solo movie has a lot going for it, with Marvel Studios maintaining the role of creative director while Sony produces. As The Telegraph reported, Holland showed up at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday in a surprise visit to introduce the film. He also officially confirmed Spider-Man: Homecoming as the new name and showed a clip of the logo, alongside Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman. Holland flew in right after leaving the Captain America: Civil War premiere in Los Angeles on the same day.

The new Spider-Man solo film will be directed by Jon Watts. Watts doesn’t have a long feature film resume, having only directed two other features. He is best known for his work on Cop Car, last year’s film about a couple of kids who steal a police cruiser, which then leads them into a tangle with a rogue policeman. The fact that Cop Car shows kids getting themselves caught up in adult situations may have given Marvel and Sony the idea that he would handle Tom Holland’s much younger portrayal of Spider-Man well. Marvel is known for its unique taste in directors, often finding the hidden potential in less experienced people.

Though Captain America: Civil War, with its appearance by Spider-Man, is almost fully a Marvel movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming will be more of a Sony movie. Of course, Marvel is handling its role in the production. More characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe are rumored to be making appearances. The full cast of Marvel Studios characters can now mingle with Spider-Man on screen. But Sony is nevertheless in charge of production duties for the film, with Marvel handling the creative direction. Since the people at Sony will handle the core decision making tasks, the Tom Holland’s Spider-Man solo movie might slightly resemble those Spider-Man movies that came before.

Kevin Feige explained the actual division of work in an interview with Collider.

“We’re working very much [together]. It is a— I don’t know exactly what the credits will be, but it is a Sony Pictures production of a Marvel Studios film. The agreement was that it is very much a Sony Pictures movie. Amy Pascal is co-producing it with us and [Sony Chairman] Tom Rothman is leading the charge for Sony and that we are the creative producers. We are the ones hiring the actor, introducing him in this film, and then working right now on the script and soon to be shooting the actual Spidey film.”

Will there be too many cooks in the kitchen? Might Sony want to take the character places Marvel wouldn’t dare? The two companies are looking forward to working together in order to please fans, despite neither company being able to have total control over what happens with Spider-Man. Both sides may have to compromise with what they can do, but both sides know that the sacrifices they make over control are ultimately worth it. Sony wanted this after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn’t go over so well, and Marvel wants this because they finally get to use a character that is so closely identified with the Marvel brand in a Marvel Studios movie.

The young Tom Holland will not retell Spider-Man’s origin story. The people involved think that it’s time to move on from telling Spider-Man’s origin yet again. This movie deals with the classic superhero struggle to balance ordinary life responsibilities with being a superhero. In that way it draws inspiration from Miles Morales in the Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man series. Expect to see Spider-Man return to movie theater screens next year on July 7.

[Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images]

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