There's a disturbance in the universe... Spider-Man (we know — he should drop the hyphen) is stuck in the middle of it. And it's a battle between Sony and Marvel Comics, which is now owned by Disney. Back in 2015, the two struck a deal:
- The superheroes: Marvel's creative team includes Spider-Man in its films, but Sony surprisingly owns the film rights.
- The money: In return, Marvel (now Disney) got 5% of the ticket sales from the 1st day of a Spider-Man movie release (+ all the merchandise $$) — Sony got the rest of the box office.
- The switcheroo: Now Disney's proposed a new 50/50 plan — both companies pay the production costs and split the profits evenly. But Sony said 'No.'
So who's got the Infinity Stones?... No one. If this doesn't get resolved, then Spider-Man won't be in any Marvel films in the future. That means Iron Man and Black Panther can't call on Peter to save the world the next time it inevitably faces eternal death. That would be bad for both Disney and Sony, but right now the talks show no signs of life.
We're witnessing the power of franchise ecosystems... That new Spider-Man movie Far from Home is now Sony's top-grossing movie ever. Meanwhile, Disney's Avengers: Endgame became the largest movie of all time, period. Both share characters, which drives engagement and future spin-offs. That's why Disney acquired Fox for $71B — it's adding 15 movie franchises to its Star Wars and Avengers treasure chest. And it just delivered a record film year.