Why Spider-Man Should Not Join The Avengers

There have been a lot of rumours on the Internet lately suggesting that Sony is considering "loaning" the film rights of Spider-Man back to Marvel so that he can appear in an Avengers movie. The rumours seem to be largely based on this article, which clearly states that the news could not be confirmed.

At this stage we'd certainly recommend treating these rumours with more than a pinch of salt. But speaking as fans of Marvel's Cinematic Universe (MCU) - and geeks who were a little disappointed with the latest Spider-Man movie - we were initially rather excited by the idea of Spidey coming back to his home at Marvel. But after giving it some more thought, we weren't so sure.

Marvel Universe has evolved over the years ever since the company first wowed us with Iron Man six years ago. With all due love to Iron Man and Thor though, these were characters that were largely unknown outside of the comic-geeks circle. Just look at some of the comic book portrayals of Thor and it's actually really easy to see why. Marvel had no choice - most of its top characters - the Fantastic Four (FF), the X-Men, and Spider-Man had been licensed out to Fox (FF and X-Men) and Sony (Spider-Man).

(Also see: Comic book moments you'll never see on big screen)

But it's precisely these constraints that helped Marvel make such enjoyable movies. Everybody knows Spider-Man's origin story. Small details keep changing but basically you've got the high school loser (whose "loser" status is never defined in the latest movies except for some moments of awkwardness that seem out of place on Andrew Garfield) who gets bullied, is really into "science" (which is never defined and omni-disciplinary as per plot requirements) who runs into a spider which has been altered by the scientific scare of the day - it used to be nuclear radiation, then it became genetic alteration, and the next reboot might have some hand-waving about nanotechnology infused spiders instead.

We've been through the same cycle with Batman and Superman too. At this point things have just gotten a little boring. With the protagonist being Iron Man or Thor or even Captain America, the film makers were able to tell an origin story that didn't set off a feeling of déja vu.

But the rumour isn't about a Marvel Spider-Man movie, you will point out, it's just about a part in an Avengers movie. That sounds a lot easier, but if the character is the Andrew Garfield version of Spider-Man then it raises continuity questions about what he was doing during the invasion of New York that took place in the first Avengers movie.

The other problem is one of personality. Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man is a collection of bad jokes and insecurity. That's a role that Iron Man already fills in the Avengers franchise, and having a second hero whose personality is so similar really doesn't add much to a film. Each of the other heroes in the Avengers is very distinct and brings different emotional tone to the film - but Spider-Man and Iron Man together would wear thin fast. Thanks Spider-Man, but we've already got a sarcastic genius on the team and he's also super rich and buys us nice things - is what we'd imagine the team would say if Peter Parker showed up.

And finally, you've got to ask yourself why Marvel would want to pay to take the character back anyway. If Sony's considering "loaning" the character, then it's only because its own Spider-Man movies are commercially unsuccessful. And if that's the case, Marvel need only wait for the contract to run out so it can reclaim the rights to its character, instead of paying for the privilege to use him now.

And unlike 2008, when Marvel was looking at a roster of mostly second string heroes, today the company is sitting on some of the most recognisable characters around. They've shown great talent for taking characters no one thought were viable, and turning them into hits - with Guardians of the Galaxy, a talking raccoon and a tree were fan favourites. At this point, the company doesn't really need Spider-Man and can afford to wait. But even more than that, we're finally reaching a stage where Marvel is willing to get really weird (in a good way) on screen. Guardians of the Galaxy was just the start of this change. We're going to get an Ant-Man film in 2015, and a Dr Strange film is expected in 2016.

At this time, the focus needs to be on making those movies a success so that Marvel's cinematic roster becomes as diverse as the comic books, and Spider-Man can only take interest away from these ideas. On the other hand, bringing Spider-Man to the MCU after a fair amount of time has passed makes much more sense. When the actors who are headlining these movies get too old or too bored to continue playing their parts, new heroes are going to be needed - and that's when Spider-Man would save the day for Marvel.