Spider-Man is officially back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Well, at least for one more film. But its something. Go Team MCU! (“Team MCU” is not a thing… I hope… I mean that would be kinda dorky… weird… but mostly dorky. Still, I’d probably be on it.)

The news came on September 27, 2019 that both Disney and Sony have agreed to have Spider-Man return to the MCU for at least one more stand alone film. The stand alone is slated to come out July 16, 2021 and will complete the MCU’s trilogy with Tom Holland.

For many MCU fans, the news comes as welcome relief after Sony and Disney announced splitting ties over the summer. For others, the news is a bit less happy. Some fans of Spider-Man were looking forward to his facing off against Venom, potentials to see a live action Into the Spiderverse, and to see a Spider-Man stand on his own without the backing of the MCU.

And though some of the critics of the move may have a point that those things may be cool, ultimately it is for the best that Tom Holland reprise his Spider-Man role in the MCU where he has an established back story.

The following are some of the top reasons Spider-Man returning to the MCU (at least one more time) is a good move.

What's in this review

Always three there are, no more, no less

OK. So that’s not entirely true. In fact, that’s not at all true. I was just having trouble thinking of a good heading…

Thor is getting a fourth movie. By the looks of it, Black Widow is only getting one movie (unless they revive her character, do more back stories, or use a “new” Black Widow <cough>lame<cough>). And Hawk Eye, Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier, and Falcon are going straight to Disney+ streaming, which is the modern equivalent of going straight to video… looks like they made it after all!

Hawkeye looking sad into distance Spider Man returns to MCU — Hey, some straight to video movies are pretty good… I mean, I can’t think of any, but I’m sure there are some…

But other than those exceptions, MCU characters get a trilogy of stand alone movies. Spider-Man is not one of the exceptions. He was slated to have a third movie before the negotiations broke down between Disney and Sony. And more importantly, they need to address the cliff-hanger at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Spider-Man has an established backstory

Let’s face the bigger issue: what was Sony going to do with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man? Think about it. Holland’s story is dependent on the MCU. This may annoy some, but it would be very hard to watch a Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland where he basically has to ignore the current Spider-Man’s back story.

Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Spider-Man returns to MCU.

In reality, they’d have to do a soft reboot that could completely destroy the character. And, more importantly, it could confuse the hell out of casual watchers of the film who wonder why he is ignoring everything that happened in Avengers: End Game.

Who the hell wants to see ANOTHER Spider-Man reboot? Chances are Sony would kill off Uncle Ben… again. Now, a live action Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse with Miles Morales could be amazing as well, but when using Holland, which Sony would have to without breaking contracts, it would be hard to accept a new “backstory.”

Spider-Man is just coming into his own in the MCU

Spider-Man facing Tony Stark — Though some may disagree, what Iron Man and Tony Stark had on screen was pretty damn good.

Holland’s Spider-Man is just starting to come into his own as a hero. In Far From Home, he coped with saying goodbye to his mentor, Tony Stark. But by the end, he seemed ready to face the world as his own hero.

This is something many Spider-Man fans have wanted for some time now. They felt Disney/MCU did Spider-Man wrong. They wanted to see a Spider-Man that was full of quips, nerdy, and not dependent on Tony Stark/Iron Man. And in the third film, they will almost certainly see this version of Spider-Man.

The MCU’s next Spider-Man movie could give both MCU and Spider-Man fans exactly what they want…. Of course, the whole thing could fail miserably, and toxic, angry fans may still complain. But I’m guessing it will actually be quite good.

The MCU has a solid history

Again. You may have to ignore certain films. Certainly not all MCU films were amazing. Almost everyone has at least one MCU film they can’t stand, such as Thor: The Dark World or Avengers: Age of Ultron. And others were just bland, such as Captain Marvel.

Goose vs Brie Larson Captain Marvel — Check out my Captain Marvel review.

But by and large, and when taken as a whole, the MCU has created an amazing universe that no other comic book adaptation (yes, I’m refering to you DC) has come close to touching. And, really, no other set of films has successfully told a unified or connected story over the course of over 20 films.

And the MCU has shown it can carry bad or mediocre films. Like it did with Captain Marvel.

Comparably, Sony produced two Spider-Man movies almost everyone agrees are good: Spider-Man 2 from the first live action trilogy and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Otherwise, though some like (or even love) the others, they are not universally everyone’s favorites.

And Sony is no where near establishing a universe like the MCU. In fact, Apple will probably buy them out before they can do what Disney did…

And if Apple buys Sony, rights return to Disney and all characters become MCU property again. This is a move most MCU fans are hoping for so Spider-Man can get a permanent home in the MCU. Until then, Spider-Man’s third movie will do just fine.