Spiderman

Spider-Man Is Joining The Marvel Cinematic Universe - This Changes Everything

Webslinger set to swing into Marvel Studios films after historic deal with Sony...

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 08:49

Spider-Man will finally be seen on screen alongside The Avengers after Marvel Studios struck a deal with Sony Pictures over the iconic character which changes, well, pretty much everything (here are 5 Things That NEED To Happen Now Spidey's Part Of The MCU).

Sony has held the rights to Spidey since 1999 and has produced two versions of the character, with Tobey Maguire and - more recently - Andrew Garfield playing the webslinger.

Who Played It Better? 10 Superheroes Played By Different Actors

Before Jennifer Lawrence’s blue-body Mystique make-over for X-Men, blonde bombshell Rebecca Romijn had three outings as the magnificent mutant, although rumour has it J-Law will achieve the ultimate comics honour and get a stand-alone Mystique film.

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With great power, comes great responsibility, as both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire well know. Tobey played Spidey from 2002-2007 while British-born Garfield took over as the insect-inspired hero in 2012.

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Fast & Furious actress Gal Gadot is next up to don the star-spangled suit and lasso of truth in the upcoming Batman vs Superman film. Hopefully she’ll fare better than Adrianne Palicki, whose outing as the Amazonian princess didn’t get past a TV pilot.

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Ed Norton re-visited his Fight Club training in 2008’s The Hulk, where he played the gamma-zapped Bruce Banner. After Norton backed out of the Avengers, he was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, much to fans’ fury, who were quick to smash the casting choice.

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Jessica Alba caused quite a ‘Storm’ as the Invisible Woman in 2005 flick Fantastic Four while House of Cards actress Kate Mara is set to steal her, err, thunder in an upcoming reboot, playing the superhero and her human alter-ego, Sue Storm.

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We know what you’re thinking: WTF. This is actually down to a re-boot of the comics, which previously featured Fury as a Hasselhoff lookalike, resulting in the Hoff playing Nick in a TV film. The character was later re-drawn to look like Samuel L Jackson.

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Kirsten Dunst was the original Spidey gal, playing flame-haired Mary Jane opposite Tobey Maguire. Divergent star Shailene Woodley was set to reprise the role alongside Andrew Garfield but sadly her efforts were left on the cutting room floor.

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Brandon Routh had an uphill battle as Clark Kent in Superman Returns, not least because he had to wear a pair of pants over his spandex suit. Luckily for Henry Cavill, most fans were so distracted by the big gun show they didn’t even clock the unitard.

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Played by a bevvy of on-screen beauties, Catwoman is well on her way to having nine lives but our favourite versions were undoubtedly Anne Hathaway and Halle Berry, who flaunted their feline charms until they had Batman purring in the palm of their paws.

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There was outrage when Ben Affleck was cast as the caped crusader following Christian Bale’s almost decade-long reign in the role. But fans are slowly coming round to the idea of ‘Batfleck’, who’ll make his silver screen debut as the character next year.

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However there's bad news for British star Garfield, as it's reported that he is being dropped in favour of a new version of the hero.

The new Spidey will be introduced in a Marvel movie, with next May's Captain America: Civil War being tipped by The Hollywood Reporter - since he features heavily in the comic book storyline.

And Sony will follow that up with a standalone movie afterwards - with July 2017 already earmarked for its release.

A significant piece of news is that Marvel's creative supremo Kevin Feige will work as a producer on the Sony movie - alongside Amy Pascal, who recently announced she is stepping down as co-head of Sony to work as a producer.

Feige said: "Marvel's involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU.

"I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years."

And Sony CEO Michael Lynton added: "This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans."