Following the news that Tom Holland's Spiderman will leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and return to Sony, fans swung onto Twitter to demand that Spider-Man be saved from fading from the Marvel movie franchise with the hashtags #SaveSpiderMan and #SaveSpidey
The studio was reportedly in discussions over a new Spider-Man agreement, with Disney wanting a 50/50 co-financing arrangement. But Sony reportedly wanted to do a deal whereby Disney got 5% of first-dollar gross, with Disney maintaining merchandising rights, which Disney rejected, according to Cosmicbook.
— ophe 🌈 (@CAPTAINLARS0N) August 21, 2019
Some fans have concocted a theory that Sony deliberately walked away from the deal so as to be able to include Tom Holland in Sony's Venom franchise. Venom is an infamous Spider-Man villain who was not included in the MCU as Sony retained the rights to the character.
— natasha ☾ (@midtown_spidey) August 21, 2019
Even Avengers star Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye, gave his opinion on Instagram saying that Spider-Man should stay with Marvel.
— Izzy (@izzyjeeves_) August 21, 2019
— 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒖 ⎊ tizia inutile (@manuelaguds) August 21, 2019
Other fans began to notice a pattern of Spiderman franchise being cancelled.
— kevin (@kevin3300) August 21, 2019
— ASH (Foodhunter) (@Ashril_92) August 21, 2019
The late Stan Lee was even invoked to support Spidey.
— maria ☁️ (@_alonepluto_) August 21, 2019
— Stephanie Laney (@SigynStrange) August 21, 2019
Some users directed their anger towards the company.
— Stephanie Laney (@SigynStrange) August 21, 2019
— R. (@ricci2001_) August 21, 2019
— Angel Amaral (@BluRayAngel) August 21, 2019
#SaveSpiderMan
Sony: ends Spider-Man deal with Disney
— McFly (@BreedingRyan) August 21, 2019
Sony released a statement through THR, which appeared to suggest that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was at fault for the fall-out. The statement also suggested that Feige's hand in Spider-Man's swinging success was exaggerated, despite Feige initiating the original handover deal between the two companies.
