New details are learned about Marvel’s initial plans for The Avengers: Endgame as it is revealed Sony and Marvel had a bit of a battle over Spider-Man.
The ending of Infinity War saw the Marvel heroes die at the hands of Thanos, but since the new Spider-Man: Far From Home movie was already announced, it didn’t take much for fans to think the ending could be changed.
It turns out that apparently, Marvel Studios wanted to keep things secret following The Avengers: Endgame, which makes sense as the heroes die, but Sony put the kibosh on that as Sony demanded a new Spider-Man movie get released in 2019.
The details come from an interview with former head of Sony films and producer Amy Pascal.
Vanity Fair notes while Pascal has been friends with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and both companies have made a lot of money on their mutual Spider-Man deal, confirming earlier rumors of a “rocky” relationship between Sony and Marvel, the report notes:
…the union hasn’t come without its sticky complications: Sony’s insistence that Holland’s second stand-alone film, Far from Home, be released in 2019 threw a wrench in Marvel’s preferred degree of secrecy around Avengers: Endgame, for instance.
Pascal also previously spoiled some of Avengers 4 as she said Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place “minutes after” The Avengers: Endgame, which remains to see if that still holds true. However, what Pascal revealed is that Spider-Man apparently (obviously) comes back.
The interview with Vanity Fair also touched upon Spider-Man leaving Marvel and returning to Sony, which is something Pascal previously said is going to happen.
“I think about crying,” Pascal said of a future in which Spider-Man is not a part of Marvel Studios. “I can only hope for a future where things work out. I’ve known Kevin since he was Avi’s very, very quiet assistant, who for many years sat in that room listening to us and being so much smarter than any of us without any of us realizing. I will say that working with Marvel has been one of the highlights of my professional career.”
The tentative good news, at least for now, is that the article mentions if Spider-Man ever teams with Sony’s Venom, “it would be years in the future, after Holland’s Marvel contract expires.”
Regarding how The Avengers: Endgame fits into Spider-Man: Far From Home and vice versa, if the new trailer is anything to go by, it seems as if Far From Home will be marketed separately from Endgame, and won’t reference the events from Infinity War, but make it seem as if Far From Home is its own movie.
Avengers: Endgame has an Apr. 26, 2019 release; Spider-Man: Far From Home hits July 5, 2019.
