Sony Working with Marvel, Disney on Spider-Man Spinoffs but Don't Expect an 'Avengers' Crossover

If Disney, Sony and Fox were to somehow figure out how to split the costs (and massive profits) that would come from a movie that saw Spider-Man and Wolverine join forces with Iron Man's Avengers, the Internet would probably explode and every box office record would fall. With Marvel's empire broken up thanks to decades-old licensing deals, this scenario remains the elusive white whale of superhero movies.

So when Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Michael Lynton told investors on Thursday that "We do very much have the ambition about creating a bigger universe around Spider-Man" and that Sony was "working closely with Marvel and Disney," the news got people hoping for that crossover movie hoping.

Sadly, it looks like Lynton wasn't referring to Spider-Man joining The Avengers. Instead, Deadline reports that Sony is looking at expanding the small slice of the Marvel world that they do have rights to, possibly adding movies focused on other Spider-Man characters. According to Deadline, "Sony’s longtime rights deal with Marvel for Spider-Man allows them to exploit any character within the superhero’s universe — including villains, girlfriends or even Aunt May. But Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009, owns merchandising rights to Spider-Man and those related characters, so any further exploitation would have to involve Disney."

Obviously, a ton of money to be made comes from movie merchandising, so Sony would want to figure out if they can sell a bunch of Venom Legos and Spider clone action figures before they poured money into a film.

The dream of Spider-Man swinging alongside the Avengers remains unfulfilled.