The story of Spider-Man's eventual inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the great behind-the-scenes triumphs and success stories in modern entertainment history. Due to the wall-crawler's movie rights lying with Sony Pictures since the 1990's, Marvel Studios couldn't legally include him in the MCU when it started in 2008. However, with Spidey being arguably the most popular hero of all time, and with Marvel having announced Captain America: Civil War in October 2014, Marvel and Sony reached an agreement to bring the young hero into what would become the biggest franchise of all-time.
Now that Spider-Man could finally interact with Marvel's other major players, he formed a close bond with Tony Stark in a mentor/mentee relationship as he grew into his own man through the end of the Infinity Saga. This led to some exciting advancements for both his suit and his technology, although after Tony sacrificed himself in Avengers: Endgame , Peter learned how to take full ownership of his hero persona as he began his journey to find his true self.
Behind the scenes of the MCU, the brand new "The Wakanda Files" book has just released to the public, shedding new light on previously hidden secrets and stories that had never been told to the MCU fandom before. This book even includes some new revelations on Tom Holland's web-slinger and his relationship with Iron Man.
NEWS
Two new excerpts from the in-universe book "The Wakanda Files," via ComicBook, are diving deep into the history of Spider-Man in the MCU, revealing how Tony Stark knew about the young hero before Captain America: Civil War , along with the inspiration for the highly-celebrated Iron Spider suit that debuted in Avengers: Infinity War .
The book details some of Tony Stark's personal log book, first showing that Stark found Spider-Man by perusing Youtube. He was absolutely amazed by Peter Parker's abilities in the clip featured in their first scene together in Captain America: Civil War , as written in this quote from Stark himself:
This kid in Queens that's blowing up on YouTube is a bit more interesting than a cat playing a harmonica. Get this. Some teenager gets bit by a spider and suddenly shows up some of the beset in the Avengers squad? And I don't think these are special effects: this kid is catching an in-motion vehicle traveling at 45 milers per hour. That's like 3,000 pounds worth of vehicle. How?
After figuring out that Peter created his web fluid completely on his own, Tony continues on in his next excerpt, fantasizing about what the young man could do when given the best resources on the planet:
He's created this webbing from what? Over-the-counter products he's buying in a bodega? If he created all of this tech scarping together garbage, think what he could do with the playground we've built upstate."
"The Wakanda Files" also reveals that Tony simply created the Iron Spider suit with some classic ulterior motives in mind. Tony's notes indicate that he created the suit as a bargaining chip for when he planned on announcing Peter's addition to the Avengers at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming , even taking inspiration from another four-armed persona in the MCU, as mentioned in this quote:
"Once he's got the hang of the upgrades, let's lend him a hand? Or four. If we give him nanotech spider legs that build out from his back, it can be a safeguard from falling, a defensive mechanism. We won't get carried away like Cross did with that Yellowjacket suit, but it could be a fun touch.
Stark closes off by saying that this incredible new suit is a pretty solid motivator to keep Peter on the right path after some of their disagreements in Spider-Man: Homecoming , specifically with this little jab:
Let's mock up a prototype and dangle it in front of the kid. Just as a little incentive to keep on the straight and narrow, should he ever want to join the Avengers.
Behind the scenes of the movies, Captain America: Civil War co-director Anthony Russo also delved into the theory of how Tony knew about Peter way back at the movie's premiere. He expanded on it with this quote as he explained where in Peter's story the movie had planned to introduce him, as well as continuing to show just how brilliant Tony Stark is:
In our minds, we're picking up Peter Parker's story at a point after which he has gotten his powers. In our storytelling, he has been doing some things in New York and there have been Sasquatch-like videos of what he's been doing that's been showing up. You've heard word of mouth about things that have been happening, there's this very strange thing happening, so it's kind like a rumor mill that nobody's been able to identify what's been happening or how it's happening. Of course, Tony Stark being who Tony Stark is, he's one step ahead of everybody else.
WHAT THIS MEANS
"The Wakanda Files" is quickly turning into a must-read for MCU fans all over the world , and this new information on Spider-Man and Iron Man just adds that much more hype to the book's release. While fans already knew that Tony found Peter through the Youtube clip of his earliest highlights , which was featured in both of Spider-Man's first two MCU appearances, it seems that Tony was even more blown away than he let on in their first meeting. For as much as Tony had seen in his first few years as a superhero, Peter clearly pulled off some moves and skills that left him in admiration.
As for the Iron Spider plans, Tony continues to show just how resourceful he is by using the Yellowjacket suit from Ant-Man as an inspiration, taking Darren Cross's antagonistic motivations out of the equation. The Iron Spider is one of the most popular suits from Spidey's more recent runs in Marvel Comics, and discussions about its arrival in the MCU started almost as soon as Tony and Peter's relationship did. Even though the four arms on the back didn't make their first appearance until Avengers: Infinity War , they made for some of the most exciting Spider-Man action ever put to screen in that movie along with the final battle of Avengers: Endgame .
With Tony now dead and Spider-Man's identity revealed to the world after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home , Peter Parker's next solo adventure is shaping up to be possibly the craziest Spidey solo film ever put to screen as he teams up with Doctor Strange and faces a new version of Electro . The untitled Spider-Man 3 is said to be filming now in preparation for release on December 17, 2021.
