Faraway so close: how Spider-Man was almost in ‘Captain America: Civil War’

The recent Sony hacks have been the gifts that keep on giving, from the revelation that “After Earth is an ecosystem of content and brand initiatives” to the possibility of a 21 Jump Street/Men in Black crossover (which is technically a comic book adaptation). Now the Wall Street Journal reports that Sony was actually considering a Spider-Man crossover with Disney’s Marvel franchise, but the plans failed to eventuate. Excuse us while we scream into this paper bag for a while.

According to a leaked 30 October email between Sony Pictures president Doug Belgrad and Sony’s motion picture chief Amy Pascal, Belgrad told Pascal of a scenario in which Marvel would produce a trilogy of Spider-Man films with “creative control, marketing and distribution” remaining with Sony. A separate email also confirmed that Marvel wished to use Spider-Man in the Captain America: Civil War film.

These talks did not eventuate in a release, with Sony choosing to go in its own direction with Spider-Man spin-off films such as planned Sinister Six film and an animated movie from Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the people behind The LEGO Movie.

In the comic books, Spider-Man played a major role during the Civil War storyline when Iron Man convinces him to reveal his identity to the world. It was the result of a Superhuman Registration Act, which required the mandatory registration of all US costumed heroes. Heroes come into conflict with those for and against the legislation.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 met with mixed critical reception, and despite over $700 million at the global box office, it was the lowest performing Spider-Man film to date. Fans and pundits alike are clamouring to see these titans of the Marvel Comics scenes share some screen time, feeling that it would financially benefit all parties.

However, film rights agreements forged decades before have kept them apart on the big screen. Following Sam Raimi’s trilogy of Spider-Man films, Sony kept the licence alive by rebooting with Marc Webb’s inconsistent films and the aforementioned spin-offs.  We guess that comic books, unlike the upcoming Annie remake, is just not nearly enough of a “feathered fish of a genre“.

Captain America: Civil War is released by Disney on 6 May 2016. Sinister Six will make its way to cinemas on 11 November 2016 from Sony.