8 Biggest Movie And TV News This Week (April 19)

2. Spider-Man Won't Be In The Avengers Anytime Soon, Fox Not Doing X-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover

The big words on everyone's mind when it comes to superhero movies now are Cinematic Universe, as each studio is looking for ways to unite their comic book characters and allow them to exist in a shared continuity. Marvel is currently setting the standard with their ever-expanding MCU, while Sony, Warner Bros., and Fox are trying hard to catch up. With big superhero team-up films the new gold standard, we've been worndering for some time now when Spider-Man would get to join his fellow Marvel heroes in an Avengers movie. Unfortunately, it can't happen because Sony owns the Spider-Man rights, while Marvel owns their own characters. However, anything is possible, and we may someday see it happen. Yet, according to producer Avi Arad, that won't happen for a long time:

"I think I€™m probably a little bit of the militant here. I think it will take a moment in which we€™ve run out of ideas. There€™s so much to tell about Spider-Man. There€™s so much to tell about the Sinister Six. The relationship between Spider-Man and Venom will bring a whole other world in€ But we really feel very confident that we have so much to do€ Peter Parker is unique; he€™s really different. He€™s not an Avenger. He€™s not an X-Man. He€™s unique and we revere that."

Co-producer Matt Tomlach chimed in about the possibility, saying,

€œYou know Avi always refers to that question as a stunt. If you were to do that, you know, Spider-Man in the Avengers is a stunt. And I get why everybody €“ you know, fans and audience members and movie goers €“ I understand it.

When you think about the Sinister Six and you think about Venom and you think about Carnage and you think Spider-Man in whatever way you want in association with those movies, they feel like they€™re built for Spider-Man. Like that€™s where his story needs to go and wants to go and it has to be about more than a stunt.

Stunts can be cool but it€™s also a business, and so the other side of the answer is they€™re owned by different companies. And there€™s a ton left in Sony€™s world; there€™s a lot of business left because there€™s a lot of story left. So for them to want to take this character and put it with Marvel and Disney is a huge undertaking and probably, as Avi€™s saying, isn€™t necessary until you feel like, €˜Wow, we€™re sort of out of ideas. What should we do?€™ And we€™re far from out of ideas.€

On the Fox side of things, the studio owns the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, and many of us assumed that we'd be seeing the teams crossover at some point down the line. Mark Millar, one of the executive producers overseeing the Fox/Marvel universe, even hinted at the possibility last year. However, according to Schmoes Know, Fox currently has "NO PLANS" for an FF/X-Men crossover film, in an attempt to allow the FF to stand on their own without relying on support from the X-Men. Though it's a bit disappointing to hear that a crossover is out of the question, that doesn't mean it will never happen. It just means that Fox is trying to lay the proper foundation first, and allow the characters to shine on their own, before thinking about big team-up films. So, a studio thinking about what's best creatively, and not what's best for business? Now that is something that doesn't happen a lot in Hollywood!