Can Marvel Stop Sony’s Bad Marvel Movies?
While Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man while working for Marvel Comics, and Marvel holds the rights to Spidey in the world of publishing, Sony actually controls the rights to make Spider-Man movies. (You can blame Marvel’s bad decade in the 1990s for that; they were so hard up for cash at the time they sold the rights to Spidey movies and shows to Sony for just $7 million. That’s it!) As long as Sony keeps pumping out Spider-Man movies — good or bad, hit or flop — they hold those rights in perpetuity. And they can also make Spider-Man spinoff films, featuring characters who originat...