Marvel Studios addresses why the Spider-Man: No Way Home ending, which was the last time the web-crawler was seen in the MCU. While Holland is set to return as the Marvel icon in Spider-Man 4, which shoots later this year, there have been a lot of questions as to why Peter has never appeared in any of the ongoing Marvel Studios shows on Disney+.
In a new interview with the Phase Hero podcast, Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum, was asked if Holland's Spider-Man is allowed to show up in any of the live-action MCU shows that air on Disney+. In response, Winderbaum commented about the hero's long-form television rights, as he shared the following:
I'm not sure exactly what the rules are, but I think they have long-form television rights at Sony... he can do like 30-minute animation, I think.
What Brad Winderbaum's Spider-Man Comments Mean For The MCU
Even though the MCU timeline has established Spider-Man's place in the franchise, it has always been odd that the web-slinger is nowhere to be seen when it comes to the live-action TV shows. Given Winderbaum's explanation, it seems that Sony and Marvel Studios have either never attempted to make a deal where they can borrow the character for their MCU TV shows, or the former has simply not wanted to have Holland's Spider-Man appear in any of the Disney+ series. It's also possible that Marvel Studios has not tried to work in a Spider-Man appearance with Holland in the Disney+ properties.
That makes shows like Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir are happening on MGM+ and Prime Video all the more important, as Sony Television can utilize the Spider-Man TV rights across various platforms. This may also serve to explain how Marvel Studios was able to launch something like the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man this year on Disney+, since they have the animation rights. Whether or not Holland's availability has played a factor in the lack of Spider-Man in the MCU series remains to be seen.
Our Take On Brad Winderbaum's Spider-Man Comments
Winderbaum's comments help add more context to Spider-Man's MCU story, and sadly suggest Holland's Spider-Man is unlikely to appear in the Daredevil: Born Again TV show, despite it arguably being a perfect project to utilize the character outside the films. Time will tell whether or not this may be something that Sony and Marvel Studios attempt to work out for Daredevil: Born Again season 2, especially as the next season will be out the same year as Spider-Man 4. But for now, it remains to be seen if the MCU's TV shows will ever have a future for Holland's version of Spider-Man.
- Created by
- Kevin Feige
- First Film
- Iron Man
- First TV Show
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- TV Shows
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Vision Quest
- Films
- Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, Blade (2025), The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars
- Cast
- Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
MCU Movies
Source: Phase Hero
