Are Marvel and Fox Collaborating? Who’s Driving ‘Spider-Man’? Sony Email Raises Questions

The #SonyHack scandal last year is the gift the keeps on giving. Now, much of this is a mere look “behind the curtain,” and the information to be gleaned should be most interesting to fans that are curious about how the industry works rather than those looking for hard news. 

As we continue to dive deeper into the emails Amy Pascal was sending around, in anticipation of Sony’s blockbuster deal with Marvel, some interesting nuggets have popped up. See, as one of our trusted sources has always told us, one of the biggest aspects of what happens behind-the-scenes at the big studios is the way they try to maneuver, counter, and anticipate what their rivals are doing. They snoop on each other, speculate on their plans, and make plans around what their competitors doing in a way that’s fun to watch. 

As such, an email where Sony’s Pascal looks at the upcoming slate of superhero films reveals two key things:

  1. As of Oct 21, 2014 Sony was operating under the assumption that DC was releasing something in November of 2018. This jives with what we heard, which we’ve reported will be The Batman. Da7e covered it last night when he shared with the world that the film would be written by Chris Terrio with Ben Affleck starring-in and directing.
  2. At the tail end of the projected slate of films that Sony is anticipating their rivals to release is an undated entry simply referred to as “Fox/Marvel Team Up.” It’s something that wouldn’t happen until after 2018. Possibly even as far out as 2020. It should be noted that she’s not talking about the Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover, because that film is all ready mentioned earlier in that list- slated for July 2018. So Sony is of the mind- or heard something to make them believe- that Marvel and Fox could be getting in bed together down the line for a crossover of the MCU and X-Men/Fantastic Four franchises.

This email was written right around the time that Marvel contacted Sony to clarify that they were not associated with Fox’s Deadpool after a Variety article made it seem that they were. In that email, Marvel notified Sony that they would not serve as producers for “any of the films made under the X-Men license (unless we advise [Fox] otherwise).

And what about Spider-Man? 

Below are Pascal’s bullet-points and concerns with regard to the deal that would see Sony sharing Spidey with Marvel. Makes you wonder who’s really in control of Spider-Man destiny (while also confirming our old scoop that Drew Goddard- the man who created Netflix’s Daredevil series- is the man they want to write the reboot). Oh, and they’re written by Pascal, so don’t yell at me about the spelling and grammatical mistakes. Have a look:

  • we finance the movie entirely and approve budget
  • we retain casting script director and budget approvals
  • marvel isnthe producer of the movie only and disney gets the merchandising and they help us like they did but even more so
  • we market and distribute the movie…..they have no approval of the marketing budget.
  • they have consultation in marketing materials because they are really good bu they dont have a tie breaker
  • would we have to dismantle ss [SINISTER SIX]?
  • can drew goddard write the sm original?
  • who would direct the sm movie?
  • what do we do with matt tolmach and avi?
  • they can not put spidey in future spiderman movies or team ups.
  • we need to keep animation rights for a theatrical relaesse spiderman move to be directed by lord and miller
  • we need to be able to make spiderman movies after this movie
  • we need to be able to make the girl team up movie
  • is it possible to put spidey in worlds without other characcters once we is with iron man and cap
  • can we have him in cap and then 6 months later in ss
  • comingle everything
  • we have a right to co finance any movie that spiderman is in and get a production credit
  • we get to make future movies with our characters and theirs in a collorative way but we dont need their approval
  • marvel produces a bunch of spiderman movies for sony the way they do for disney….all spiderman dominent movie are financed snd marketed by us event though disney will have the mrech on eerything
  • we can put the marvel and even disney logo on ours if we can put sony on theirs
  • morale and publicity”

If a lot of this stuck, and Sony really does retain final approval of all the key elements of the new Spider-Man, it really throws water on the idea of “We’re finally getting a true Marvel Studios Spider-Man!” that has so many fans excited. 

Regardless, all of this is an interesting look at what happens behind closed doors as the key decision-makers in the industry prepare the projects that have us all frothing at the mouth. What do you make of these tidbits?

SOURCE: WikiLeaks

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