It’s been over a decade now since Marvel Studios produced “Iron Man,” the very first movie in its Cinematic Universe series. Since that Paramount Pictures first released that Jon Favreau film back in May of 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone on encompass 19 movies (with the 20th in the series, “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” arriving in theaters on July 6th of this year) and sold over $16 billion worth tickets worldwide.
That said, there are a number of Marvel Comics titles that are not a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox acquire the film rights to the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Spider-Man back in the ’90s. And Marvel Studios & The Walt Disney Company have aggressively working towards reacquiring the rights to these titles ever since August of 2009. Which is when the Mouse acquired Marvel Entertainment, LLC for $4.24 billion.
When Disney announced that it would be acquiring 21st Century Fox’s film & television studios in December of 2017 for an estimated $52 billion, this news was met with great enthusiasm by comic book & movie fans. Could this acquisition mean that the X-Men, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four will get fight alongside each other or against each other in the not-so-distant future in a blockbuster-to-end-all-blockbusters?
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige isn’t saying. Though – given that he’s got “Avengers 4” (i.e., the much-anticipated follow-up to the hugely successful “Avengers: Infinity Wars”) to deliver – not to mention “Captain Marvel” (As well as “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Which Chris Pratt just revealed will begin production in January of next year) – it’s easy to understand why Feige wouldn’t have time to talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future at this exact moment.
So what lies between “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Captain Marvel” (which arrives in theaters on March 6, 2019) ? Sony’s actually got two Marvel-inspired movies in the pipeline for that period. First up is “Venom.” Tom Hardy (who’s probably best known in comic book circles for having played Bane in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” back in July of 2012) is playing this film’s title character. Who – according to the official trailer for this Ruben Fleischer movie – is being asked to ” … embrace (his) inner anti-hero.”
Following “Venom” (which arrives in theaters on October 5th) is “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” This full-length animated feature is being produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Marvel Entertainment is the project that is most exciting comic book fans. Largely because this Peter Ramsey film will detail the adventures Miles Morales, the successor to Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” arrives in theaters on December 14th.