Sony Is The Achilles Heel Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The introduction of Spider-Man into the MCU should have been nothing but a joyous victory for comic book fans, but instead it has been bedevilled by inconsistencies and troubling portents ever since the announcement back in February of 2015. Inspired elements like the casting of Tom Holland and Michael Keaton or the decision to repurpose the material as a John Hughes-esque coming-of-age film has been indemnified by the misguided meddling of Sony honcho Amy Pascal.

Following two failed attempts at turning beloved properties into their own cinematic universes in Ghostbusters and The Amazing Spider Man, Pascal and company seem to be playing hardball with Marvel in an attempt to revitalize plans for the latter. The initial deal promised to feature Spidey in three MCU films and one solo Sony film. After that, his future with Tony Stark & Co. was left decidedly ambiguous. This news was unveiled by Pascal right on the heels of the release of the first trailer for Spider-man Homecoming, affirming her knack for gut punching fans by way of reactionary, poorly thought out press statements.

An interview with Filmstarts proved to be no different. It was here, sitting beside a visibly uncomfortable Kevin Feige, that Amy Pascal revealed that Sony’s upcoming Venom project, hitherto confirmed to be a stand alone release by both herself and Feige, may indeed take place in the MCU continuity. Yep, the Venom movie that’s set to be released as early as next year has been extemporaneously deemed an MCU film, because the kids sure love those shared universes.

C’mon people. Do any of you out-of-touch fossils know how valuable continuity is to the fan base you're trying so desperately to pander to? You don’t play fast and loose with it. Continuity is the bread and butter of the comic book industry. Haphazardly implementing characters and plots into half-baked narratives could spell the end for the Disney fueled juggernaut that is the MCU.

The MCU has worked so well up to this point because its many arcs and threads have been carefully constructed and monitored by a team of former outcasts that would rather do anything than do a disservice to any of the heroes they grew up idolizing. Ghostbusters and The Amazing Spiderman didn’t work because they were conceived in a lab by a team of dipshits that couldn’t figure out why Hellboy popped up in the post credit scene of The Avengers .

To be clear, Sony has been bombing and the smart move would be to take whatever deal Marvel has to offer and cut their losses. They have zero leverage. Marvel doesn't need Spider-Man but the further muddling of character continuity can only hurt the brand for both parties; remember, this is our third adaptation of the wall-crawler in a decade.

I respect Amy Pascal and her plight to support women in the industry, but she’s lost a lot of ground in the last five years due to poor decision making. I highly doubt something better’s gonna come along. Face it tiger, you hit the jackpot. (reference to Spider Man #15).