Was rampant online speculation responsible for bringing Spider-Man to Marvel?

Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool has hit the internet with a new theory following on from some more leaked Sony emails. He believes it’s possible that the talks between Marvel and Sony didn’t lead to rampant internet speculation, but rather that rampant internet speculation led to talks between Marvel and Sony and the eventual deal that allowed Spider-Man to appear in Captain America 3: Civil War. Or as he puts it ‘The tail wagging the dog’

News of negotiations between Marvel and Sony broke in October on HitFix with the sites writer Drew McWeeney posted the scoop and the following paragraph.

"Sony, on the other hand, may be doing things the opposite way. While I can’t get the confirmations I need to verify the story, I’m hearing that there are some very cool “Spider-Man” plans being discussed that would help Sony refocus their enormously important franchise while also opening up some connections in the onscreen Marvel movie universe that would blow fandom’s minds. Will it work out? I don’t know. I would love to be able to state for sure that it’s happening. What seems clear from what I’ve heard is that Marvel wants to be able to play with all of their characters, and if they can make that work creatively and on a corporate level, they will, and that means the world gets bigger again."

Now it may look like someone from either Marvel or Sony leaked news of talks to Drew and that he was acting on that information but as new leaked Sony emails reveal that several high-profile executives at both Sony and Marvel had no idea where this news came from proving that talks hadn’t happened yet.

Paul Pflug of a PR company working for Marvel emailed around to enquire if Marvel knew about it. This then caused a concerned Marvel Chief Counsel John Turitzin to go straight to Marvel CEO Isaac Perlmutter who then contacted Sony’s Michael Lynton who eventually ended the correspondence with

"Yes. This has also been brought to my attention. No idea where it is coming from. Apparently the ny times also interested in the story. I think best to ignore it all, but happy to discuss if you like."

So, it’s possible that the false article on HitFix that sparked a whole host of internet rumours was the catalyst that got Sony and Marvel thinking about doing a deal over Spider-Man. And if that is the case I’d like to go ahead and suggest that I’ll be cast as Marvel’s next Spidey, because apparently that works!

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