Last week, the news broke that Spider-Man, played by actor Tom Holland, is no longer a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise is currently owned by Disney; however, Sony had filming rights to the character. The dispute circulated after the two companies had a financial-custody battle. Originally, Sony kept the majority of the profits and Disney received less than ten percent. However, with the recent success that Spider-Man: Far From Home received, Disney wanted to split the movie profits equally. Sony was not interested in giving half of their sales to Disney, ultimately leading to the downfall of Holland’s character. 

Kevin Feige, the producer for all Marvel movies, decided to remove Spider-Man to avoid any more financial losses. This business move, however, sparked outrage with many fans deciding to boycott future Marvel movies. Many of the celebrities who are featured in the franchise have also spoken out about Holland’s departure. Jeremy Renner, who plays assassin Hawkeye, tweeted out last week his disappointment towards Sony. 

“Hey @sonypictures we want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please, thank you,” Renner said. 

Deadpool star, Ryan Reynolds, also took to Twitter to express his opinion comically about the situation. 

 “Can we get a Spider-Man & Deadpool movie now?” Reynolds jokingly claimed.

Some Seminole High students also express their disappointment about Sony’s recent decision. Junior Chandana Karumanchi explains that Sony removing Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a bad idea because “most fans don’t only want Spider-Man, they want to see him with other superheroes that they love. Isolating him is going to hurt the franchise.

Moreover, there is some confusion by fans as to how they will now incorporate the Avengers without Spider-Man, as he remains a key component to the storyline. As to how Marvel and Disney will handle this situation remains a mystery. Some fans have pointed out that the future Avengers movies may have holes or confusing elements. Others, like Junior Abigail Allen are worried that Spider-Man’s personality will change altogether in the new Disney adaptation. 

“I feel like Sony will give him a new persona and that might be confusing based on the previous movies. Spider-Man’s humorous, awkward, and relatable personality is what made us all like him so much compared to Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maquire,” Allen said.

Karumanchi agrees that Holland “is the best version we have seen of Spider-Man.” She also thinks “it is a bad decision on Sony’s part because we have seen previous standalone spiderman movies and they really were not not that good.” She goes on to elaborate how Disney needed “Marvel’s help to keep the character alive.”

Although the future for Spider-Man seems uncertain, Holland released a statement saying that a third Spider-Man movie will still be made and it is going to be “something very special [and] different.” 

It has been in recent speculation that Holland will be joining Tom Hardy in the Venom Series, owned by Marvel, but not of the same cinematic universe as the Avengers cast. This has recently raised hope for some upset fans. As for the future of Holland and the Spider-Man franchise, there is still some hope that Disney will pull out of it and bring him back with the Avengers cast. 

Whether or not Sony and Disney will renegotiate their deal, Spider-Man will continue to entertain viewers regardless if it is owned by Sony or Disney.