Spider-Man to enrole in the MCU

A fractured multiverse is nothing new to Comic Book fans, but since they’re under the same management there was always room for them to overlap. Just take a look at the recent inter-dimensional jaunts of Spider-Man and Deadpool for an example of that. But when it comes to live action adaptations the separation is maintained by a force even more insurmountable; legal rights. And not even Superboy could punch those universes back together.

Or so it seemed.

Today Marvel have announced that fan-favourite Spider-Man would be welcomed into the Cinematic Universe. What this actually means is remarkably uncertain. Spider-Man will appear in an MCU film after which Sony will release their own film in 2017. Speculation places a blue and red spandex guest appearance in Captain America 3: Civil War, partially because of Spider-Man’s role in the Civil War comic book event, but mostly because the other MCU movies on the imminent horizon have either wrapped up filming or are set in space.

In other news, while the 2017 Spider-Man movie will be funded by Sony, Marvel has also announced changes to their release schedule in light of this announcement. Thor: Ragnarok will still strike cinemas in 2017 (November 3rd) but Black Panther and Captain Marvel are now set for 2018 and Inhumans will début in 2019. 

We have ALL the Spider-men!

Marvel have just announced the greatest piece of Spider-Man fan service since Spider-Island. Launching this November SPIDER-VERSE! will unite every Spider-Man (and, for that matter, every Spider-Man costume variation) from every universe to combat Morlun. Expect more talk of Spider Totems.

The first threads of this multiverse spanning web will be spun in April’s Amazing Spider-Man #1 which sees the return of Peter Parker (driven by Peter Parker) with the main event kicking off in issue 9.

Dan Slott, who has recently proven his worth over and over with the excellent Superior Spider-Man run will be at the helm once again and the art will be taken care of by Olivier Coipel. Marvel fans should recognise that name from a number of titles including some beautiful work on the House of M event; it will be interesting to see whether his work will be a departure at all from the more comic stylings that Humberto Ramos is establishing for Peter Parker’s immediate future.

An event even greater than the time Madam Web brought together alternate Spider-Men to battle Spider-Carnage!

Editor Nick Lowe had this to say on this ambitious undertaking:

“The scope of this event is so big, the word ‘epic’ just doesn’t do it justice. The story is just huge and heartbreaking and has necessitated spreadsheets to organize all the Spider-Men. Luckily we have a writer who has proven time and time again he can thread impossible story-needles [Slott] and the most versatile character artist in the business [Coipel].”

It’s certainly an exciting time to be a Spider-Man fan and it looks like we’re finally going to see the event that adds Miles Morales to the 616 universe.

A Stan Lee cameo has neither been confirmed nor denied. Don't ask me why I decided to fixate on this episode!