It appears Spider-Man is leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Disney's Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have hit an impasse on new financing terms for upcoming Spider-Man movies, sources have told Variety.

If a deal cannot be reached, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will not produce future Spider-Man films, effectively removing Tom Holland's Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Reps for Disney, Marvel and Sony had no comment. The dispute stems from Disney's demand that future Spider-Man films would be financed on a 50/50 basis with Feige remaining in a consulting producer capacity. Sony is believed to have proposed keeping the arrangement under the current terms, which stipulate that Marvel receives about 5 per cent of first-dollar gross and all merchandising revenues.

One source said that a deal might still be reached between Disney and Sony but there are no talks currently going on. Disney is believed to have expressed concerns that Feige was spread too thin due to other Marvel projects plus original projects for Disney Plus.

Spider-Man: Far From Home, produced by Feige and Amy Pascal, recently surpassed Skyfall to become Sony Pictures' highest worldwide box office grosser.

Feige achieved his first full producer credits more than a decade ago on Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. His films have a combined worldwide box office gross of over $26.8 billion, and he received a nomination for the Academy Award for best picture for producing Black Panther this year, marking the first superhero film ever to receive a best picture nomination.

Feige also produced Avengers: Endgame, which surpassed Avatar this year as the highest-grossing film of all time.

In 2015, Disney, Marvel and Sony announced a deal to share the Spider-Man film rights, which led to Holland portraying a younger version of Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Sony distributed the films in which Spider-Man was the main character while Disney handled the other titles.

Sony is widely believed to be developing two more Spider-Man movies with Holland reprising his role as the webslinger but has not officially announced those titles. The news about the impasse was first reported by Deadline.

This article was originally published on August 21, 2019 with the title: "Spider-Man Could Leave MCU if Disney, Sony Can't Reach Financing Deal."