In 2012 it took an elite team of superheroes to save earth from an alien army planning to enslave humanity.Next time the planet is under threat though the likes of Thor and Captain America could be joined by Spider-Man.A deal has been agreed between Sony Pictures and Marvel that will see Spidey appear in an as-yet-unspecified film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.It’s not clear when that’ll be, but Marvel is due to release its latest Captain America venture next year.The deal doesn’t mean Sony Pictures will be giving up the film rights to the character though. After his Marvel debut Sony will then release the next instalment of its own £2.63 billion Spider-Man franchise.The terms of the contract mean we could see some Marvel Cinematic Universe favourites popping up in those films too.Spider-Man has been part of Marvel’s world for more than 50 years and this new deal puts an end to years of speculation as to whether Peter Parker would ever join the other Marvel superheroes on the big screen.”Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s great characters, beloved around the world,” said Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, which owns Marvel Entertainment.”We’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures to bring the iconic web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which opens up fantastic new opportunities for storytelling and franchise building.”It’s not clear who’ll play Spider-Man in his first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance.In a statement Sony does refer to “the new Spider-Man”, which may mean Andrew Garfield, who has played the character in the last two Sony films, is out.
