Marvel and Sony were able to come to an agreement that allowed Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for a second there it looked like the two studios weren’t on the same page when it came to Sony’s upcoming spin-offs like the Venom movie. During a press junket for Spider-Man: Homecoming earlier in June, Sony’s Amy Pascal said the films would take place in the MCU, while Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige silently appeared to have an aneurysm next to her. Turns out, Pascal messed up.
During another press event for Homecoming, Pascal clarified her earlier comments. When she said the movies would “still all be in the same world,” what she really meant was the Marvel Comics world, not the MCU. Which, uh, duh. It’s not like Venom was going to take place in the DC Comics universe.
According to Fandango’s Erik Davis, Pascal was “itching to clarify,” after everybody (understandably) thought she’d just let a game-changing bombshell slip.
Sony is in a bit of a weird place here. Thanks to the deal they made with Marvel Studios (and Tom Holland’s charisma), Spider-Man is hugely popular again. Sony wants to cash in on this by making more Spidey movies that they won’t have to co-produce with Marvel. But, those movies can’t include anything that Sony doesn’t have exclusive rights to — a.k.a pretty much everything that makes the MCU what it is.
How, exactly, Venom and Black Cat and Sable will exist alongside a Spider-Man who might be having adventures in a whole other cinematic universe remains to be seen.
Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters on July 7. The Venom movie will premiere on October 5, 2018.
