Disney Looking to Buy Spider-Man… or Sony

Movies

The mouse is looking to catch himself a spider. Giant Freakin’ Robot exclusively reports that Disney is once again trying to get full control of Spider-Man and his universe. This isn’t exactly shocking – why wouldn’t they want to add the final (as far as I can tell) gem to their Marvel Infinity Gauntlet? But this time, they’re going so far as to contemplate buying Sony’s film division as they did with 21^st Century Fox. It doesn’t stop there, though; supposedly, Disney is even considering simply buying Sony in its entirety or negotiating a merger with the massive company. This would, of course, be a fairly large move simply to get the rights to one property, indicating that Disney either has its sights set on more than just Spidey or that it’s letting Sony know exactly how serious it is about getting the Spider-Man rights.

From a business perspective, it’s impossible to know what makes sense for whom. Disney appears to have been hurt financially by the lockdowns over the past year and a half, so one would think their ability to acquire another expensive license – let alone a film division or all of Sony – would be somewhat hampered at best. Then again, we don’t know how Sony is faring these days. Perhaps they’re in dire straits and need some cash. However, with a couple of Spiderverse movies waiting in the wings, not to mention what they’ll make from Spider-Man: No Way Home, I don’t know why they’d want to sell one of their most valuable assets just yet. And that’s not even mentioning the video games and other facets of the brand. Surely that would just exacerbate the bleeding. However, if Sony sold the entire film division, maybe they’d offset their losses with a big windfall that they could put into their electronics products. I don’t see Disney outright buying Sony hook, line, and sinker, but perhaps a merger is what they’re really seeking; if both companies are hurting badly enough, this could be a Hail Mary on Disney’s part to get back on its feet. Creatively, I’ve got mixed feelings. I don’t care if Disney buys Spider-Man, because, with No Way Home, they’ve pretty much royally screwed the development of their Peter Parker’s character and ongoing story. Beyond Spidey, I certainly don’t want Disney buying yet another studio and all the properties that come with it. One company owning all the entertainment is bad for everyone; quality goes downhill when there’s less competition, and Disney’s gotten too big as it is. But it will be interesting to see this play out as the negotiations begin.

Do you want Disney to get the full rights to Spider-Man? Can they afford Sony right now, especially if they have to give all their money to Scarlett Johansson? Are the head honchos chomping at the bit to replace Peter Parker with Miles Morales in live-action? Let us know in the comments and stick around Geeks + Gamers for more movie news!