Avengers director says Spider-Man leaving the MCU is a ‘tragic mistake’

Joe Russo, one half of the sibling duo responsible for directing some of Marvel’s top movies, thinks that Sony has made a “tragic mistake” letting Spider-Man leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU.

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, the Avengers: Endgame director said: “It was a tenuous, fraught union throughout the whole process. But, I will say, stepping back and trying to be objective as possible, that I think it’s a tragic mistake on Sony’s part to think that they can replicate (Marvel Studios president) Kevin (Feige)’s penchant for telling incredible stories and the amazing success he has had over the years. I think it’s a big mistake.”

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The comment was made a month after news broke in August that negotiations between Sony and Disney’s Marvel Studios had broken down with regards to the future of the web-slinger continuing in the MCU.

Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man and in 2016, the character, played by actor Tom Holland, was able to join the MCU in Captain America: Civil War due to a deal that the two studios struck in 2015.

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Disney had asked for a 50/50 co-financing deal for future movies following the recent Spider-Man: Far From Home, which Sony rejected. The failure to reach an agreement means Holland’s Spider-Man will not appear in future MCU movies and Feige will not be involved in the superhero’s solo films.

Joe’s brother and directing partner, Anthony Russo, likened the relationship between the two studios to a marriage.

“It was so difficult to get (Spider-Man) into Civil War. It was an extremely long and hard process. But we were driven to help make it happen. But Kevin Feige pulled it off, somehow. Disney and all the good people at Sony found a way to make it work and it lasted a few films,” he said.

READ: Thousands of fans petition for Spider-Man to stay in the MCU

Joe added: “We had a wonderful experience with that and I think audiences really appreciated that marriage. But we know how hard that marriage was to make in the first place, so the fact that the marriage fell apart isn’t really that surprising to me and Joe.”

Feige himself had said in a previous interview that the collaboration was "never meant to last forever."

He told EW: “I’m feeling about Spider-Man gratitude and joy. We got to make five films within the MCU with Spider-Man: two standalone films and three with the Avengers. It was a dream that I never thought would happen."