Spider-Man to remain in the Marvel universe as Disney and Sony work out deal

Spider-Man isn't far from home anymore.

Disney and Sony announced a deal Friday that will allow Spider-Man to remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tom Holland's webslinger will return in a third MCU-set solo film in 2021, and he'll appear in at least one more Marvel Studios movie after that, Deadline reports.

The future of the Spider-Man series was left up in the air in August when Disney and Sony were unable to reach a deal to continue sharing the character. Although Sony owns Spider-Man, his recent films take place in the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe. The studios' arrangement falling apart meant future Spider-Man films could feature no tie-ins to the broader Marvel series, nor would Holland appear in any Avengers films after his role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

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But like Spider-Man blipping back into existence following Thanos' snap, he's back now thanks to this deal, under which Marvel Studios and its president, Kevin Feige, will produce the third movie. Deadline reports the new deal sees Disney getting a 25 percent equity stake in the next Sony Spider-Man movie, an offer Sony initially "balked at."

Meanwhile, Sony will continue to work on its own series of separate films based on Spider-Man characters like Venom, and interestingly, Feige hinted in a Friday statement that crossovers could lie ahead, saying Spider-Man "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."

For now, Spider-Man will swing back into action in his third solo film on July 16, 2021.