10 Huge What Ifs That Could Have Changed The MCU Forever
2. What If Sony Made The Amazing Spider-Man 3?
Tom Holland's MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War might have seen him become the third different actor to appear as Spider-Man in a live-action movie in just nine years, but he's already played the character the same number of times as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield combined.
Jealously watching the success of Marvel Studios, Sony decided to try and will their own cinematic universe into existence with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, sowing the seeds for multiple sequels and spinoffs. When the sequel disappointed both critically and commercially, they were forced to admit defeat and can their second Spidey franchise in seven years, before striking their unprecedented agreement with Marvel.
The MCU's Spider-Man has already been established as a key part of the series, and with his father figure Tony Stark out of the way it seems almost guaranteed that the web-slinger will continue to be positioned as one of the studio's figureheads, which is a far cry from how the character's future looked just half a decade ago.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 had been announced and dated for 2016 and 2018 respectively, while spinoffs for the Sinister Six, Venom, Black Cat, Silver Sable and Spider-Man 2099 were all in various stages of development.
Sony might finally crack the formula for success with their wonderfully-titled SPUoMC, but if they hadn't ceded control of their most marketable name,then both comic book franchises would have turned out completely differently.