In the U.S.A., the complete collection for the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be found on Disney+ with three notable films missing: The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. This is due to Disney not owning the streaming rights to these three films, as distribution rights for The Incredible Hulk still belong to Universal, while Spider-Man is obviously owned by Sony.
Last year, a few hiccups led some fans to believe that both Tom Holland-led films would find their way onto Disney's streaming service, but both ads proved to be a mistake on the part of marketing. Additionally, a recent deal that Sony has made with Netflix makes this even less likely, at least with the U.S. market.
NETFLIX NABS SPIDER-MAN STREAMING RIGHTS
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony announced a new multi-year deal with Netflix that would give the company an exclusive first pay window licensing deal in the U.S. It will allow the streaming platform rights to Sony Pictures titles after theatrical and home releases.
Theatrical films will only begin to be affected by this new deal in 2022, which includes Morbius, Uncharted, and the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This also means that future installments of Spider-Man and Venom will be affected by this new deal.
Since Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home are set to both release in 2021, they will not be included in this agreement.
HOPE INTERNATIONALLY?
The new deal with Netflix was specified to only preclude the streaming rights in the U.S., so there's still a small possibility that Disney+ could still host any current and future Spider-Man installments on their streaming service internationally. This is hopeful thinking though, since if Disney hadn't approached Sony about such a deal before, it's unlikely the company will now after this agreement with its streaming competitor.
In the grand scheme of things, this is merely an inconvenience for MCU fans, who will have to find other means to watch any Sony-produced films in this enormous franchise. It does bring up the question of how important Spider-Man will end up being in the MCU when all is said and done since Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said that streaming for the MCU is “100 percent the future,” which means Spider-Man can't be involved in such plans.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently scheduled to release in theaters on December 17, 2021.
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