Sony confirms Spider-Man will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Huge comic-book news to bring you this morning, with Sony confirming that Spider-Man will next appear in an as-yet unconfirmed Marvel movie, before starring in a new standalone outing.

What’s more, said standalone will be produced by none other than Marvel’s Kevin Feige, meaning that the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger will be firmly ensconced in the MCU for the foreseeable future.

“Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU,” said Feige in an official press release.

“I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.”

It is expected that Spidey’s first Marvel appearance will be in Captain America: Civil War, although this has yet to be officially confirmed. Meanwhile, other characters from the MCU are expected to pop up in the next solo Spider-Man film (from Sony, but produced by Kevin Feige), pencilled in for 28 July 2017. This means that there has been a shake-up in the release roster for Marvel's Phase 3, postponing the likes of Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Inhumans. The two part Avengers: Infinity War, is not expected to be delayed, and will kick off in summer 2018.

It’s worth noting that Andrew Garfield isn’t mentioned anywhere in the release, suggesting that the role will almost certainly be going elsewhere. Let the casting rumours commence…

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.