• After Disney and Sony could not reach a co-financing agreement on Spider-Man films, the character will be leaving the MCU.
• This means Sony gets to make Spider-Man films exclusively, the character cannot cross into the MCU, which will be tricky as Tom Holland is still booked for two more films.
• Fans are upset, with some calling a Sony boycott over the matter.

Marvel and Sony Fail to Reach Agreement

As Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and that has proven to be the case for the execs dealing with the tricky Spider-Man agreement between Disney and Sony. The powers that lie between the two companies failed to reach an agreement on co-financing the Spider-Man franchise, effectively kicking the beloved character out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

According to a Deadline report published Tuesday, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige will no longer have a hand in producing Spider-Man films. Sony has owned the film rights to the web-slinger since 1999, allowing them to make Toby McGuire’s trilogy and the Andrew Garfield reboot. They have lent film use to Marvel since 2015. Their deal allowed Marvel to use Spider-Man in other MCU films while taking merchandise revenue and 5% of first-dollar gross. Sony fully financed the films and took the rest of the profits. 

Disney, however, was looking to strike a new deal. They offered to co-finance the film at a 50/50 split, meaning that both companies would spend and make equal parts on the films. Sony said no, and took Spider-Man with them. 

Sony tweeted a statement about the news, saying they were “disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision.”

Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue. (3/3)

— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) August 21, 2019

According to several reports, experts are not surprised the companies found themselves at a stalemate. Jeff Bock, a senior box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations told CNBC that Sony was “playing a little hardball right now.”

“And they have every right to do so, considering the deal Disney offered is a joke,” Bock added. “Maybe if we were discussing the rights for ‘Howard the Duck,’ 50/50 would be in play, but not for the web-slinger.”

The Future of Spider-Man

As for the future of Spider-Man, right now, it seems unclear. Sony now has the sole power to make films about the friendly neighborhood superhero, which is a massive win for them. They arguably need the franchise more than Disney, and Spider-Man: Far From Home recently became their highest-grossing film of all time.

Sony, however, is presented with one massive challenge. Spider-Man can no longer cross over into the MCU, which will be tricky, considering the Tom Holland era of the character is incredibly cemented in that world.

Holland is reportedly signed on for two more Spider-Man films, but most of the plots in his standalones are grounded in characters like Tony Stark, whom he is seen as the heir-apparent to after Avengers: Endgame. His last film, Far From Home, carries a lot of weight in the MCU, including an explanation of “the blip” and the fallout from Endgame. It also ended with massive cliffhangers pertaining to Mysterio and MCU-staple Nick Fury.

Fans React to News

Since this puts Spider-Man’s story in such an—ahem— sticky situation, many fans are not happy. #BoycottSony, #SaveSpidey, and #SpidermanFarFromtheMCU all trended on Twitter with fans expressing their frustrations over the situation. 

In addition to being mad at Sony for claiming sole rights to the hero, some were equally upset with Disney for not negotiating their deal. 

And fans are not alone in using social media in hopes of changing Spidey’s future. Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye in the Avengers films, took to Instagram as well. 

“We want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please,” the actor said. 

View this post on Instagram

Hey @sonypictures we want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please, thank you #congrats #spidermanrocks #🏹 #please

A post shared by Jeremy Renner (@renner4real) on Aug 20, 2019 at 7:16pm PDT

Ryan Reynolds also acknowledged the situation on Twitter, responding to a user who asked if a Deadpool and Spider-Man movie could be in the works. 

See what others are saying: (Deadline) (CNBC) (The Ringer)

• Model Josh Kloss accused singer Katy Perry of pulling down his pants and exposing him at a party after filming with Perry for her “Teenage Dream” music video.
• After Kloss came forward, Russian TV host Tina Kandelaki said Perry drunkenly tried to kiss her at a party.
• Some associated with Perry have jumped to her defense, calling Kloss’ accusation a smear job, while others online say it shows a double standard between men and women facing misconduct allegations.

Josh Kloss Accuses Perry

Pop Singer Katy Perry faced two accusations of sexual misconduct this week, with one man saying she pulled his pants down at a party and another woman claiming she forcibly tried to kiss her.

In a Sunday Instagram post, model Josh Kloss — who worked with Perry for her 2010 “Teenage Dream” music video — accused the singer of pulling down his sweat pants and underwear while at a party for director Johny Wujek’s birthday.

Kloss said he had approached Perry to introduce her to his friend, who had been excited to meet her. He alleges she then exposed him in front of a crowd and his friend.

“But as I turned to introduce my friend, she pulled my Adidas sweats and underwear out as far as she could to show a couple of her guy friends and the crowd around us, my penis,” Kloss said in the post. “Can you imagine how pathetic and embarrassed i felt?”

View this post on Instagram

You know. After I met Katy, we sang a worship song, “open the eyes of my heart” She was cool and kind. When other people were around she was cold as ice even called the act of kissing me “gross” to the entire set while filming. Now I was pretty embarrassed but kept giving my all, as my ex was busy cheating on me and my daughter was just a toddler, I knew I had to endure for her sake. After the first day of shooting, Katy invited me to a strip club in Santa Barbara. I declined and told her “I have to go back to hotel and rest, because this job is all I have right now” So I saw Katy a couple times after her break up with Russel. This one time I brought a friend who was dying to meet her. It was Johny Wujek’s birthday party at moonlight roller way. And when I saw her, we hugged and she was still my crush. But as I turned to introduce my friend, she pulled my Adidas sweats and underwear out as far as she could to show a couple of her guy friends and the crowd around us, my penis. Can you imagine how pathetic and embarrassed i felt? I just say this now because our culture is set on proving men of power are perverse. But females with power are just as disgusting. So for all her good she is an amazing leader, hers songs are mainly great empowering anthems. And that is it. I continued to watch her use clips of her music videos for her world tour and then her dvd, only highlighting one of her male co-stars, and it was me. I made around 650 in total off of teenage dream. I was lorded over by her reps, about not discussing a single thing about anything regarding Katy publicly. And a couple interviews they edited and answered for me. So, happy anniversary to one of the most confusing, assaulting, and belittling jobs I’ve ever done. Yay #teenagedream I was actually gonna play the song and sing it on ukele for the anniversary, but then as I was tuning I thought, fuck this, I’m not helping her bs image another second.

A post shared by Joshkloss (@iamjoshkloss) on Aug 11, 2019 at 10:46am PDT

Prior to the alleged incident, Kloss said he had a crush on Perry, saying when he first met her, she was “cool and kind.” He said the two once sang the contemporary Christain song “Open the Eyes of My Heart” together.

Soon after, however, he said Perry became “cold as ice” and claimed Perry described kissing him as “gross” in front of the entire set crew. Kloss also said he felt embarrassed during that incident, but he said he continued with the video because his daughter was a toddler at the time and he was struggling with his marriage.

“I just say this now because our culture is set on proving men of power are perverse,” Kloss said in the post. “But females with power are just as disgusting.”

Following the filming, Kloss said Katy’s reps forbid him from publicly talking about Perry, going so far as to edit his answers in interviews — sometimes answering for him, he claimed.

Kloss then made another post where he listed a series of example interview questions and how he had to respond, one of those questions being, “How was kissing Katy?”

In the post, Kloss said he had to shy away from specifics, instead making comments about the positivity on the set, how proud he was of the video, and the good atmosphere of working with Perry and director Yoann Lemione.

“I was supposed to minimize myself and stay PC to protect her ‘image,’” he said. “I listened and was a good boy. The fear sticks with you, when you are censored to protect someone else’s image. But in return treated like a prostitute and exposed in front of a group of her friends and other random people.”

View this post on Instagram

I was supposed to minimize myself and stay PC to protect her “image” I listened and was a good boy. The fear sticks with you, when you are censored to protect someone else’s image. But in return treated like a prostitute and exposed in front of a group of her friends and other random people. Then you are shocked and you block it out, because you watch the face of children being uplifted by positive music she sang. And your mind is stuck trying to do your job and protect her bs image or be honest and help the global dialogue about power and abuse. And you hear over and over a million times that Males are the great evil on this planet. Meanwhile you know the truth POWER empowers what is corrupt in people, regardless of their gender. Folks I am putting us both out on display to increase and enlighten everyone. I don’t want money for this, Many of you project your own ambitions. I don’t want fame from this, that is why I stomached it and kept working, and kept supporting the “teenage dream” image. And this anniversary, and time elapse made me realize hey now is the time to let it out and let it go. Not one more day of hearing “How was Katy Perry?”

A post shared by Joshkloss (@iamjoshkloss) on Aug 12, 2019 at 6:21am PDT

Kloss said he struggled to come forward with his accusations because he has seen the impact Perry’s music has on kids. 

“Then you are shocked and you block it out, because you watch the face of children being uplifted by positive music she sang,” Kloss said. 

Ultimately, he said part of why he chose to respond was because he is continually faced with the question, “How was Katy Perry?” 

Russian TV Host Throws Another Accusation Against Perry 

Following Kloss’ accusations, Russian TV host Tina Kandelaki claimed Wednesday that Perry tried to drunkenly kiss her at a party.

“Once, I was invited to a private party with Katy Perry, where she, being pretty tipsy, chose me as an object for the manifestation of her passions,” she wrote on the social media platform Telegram. “I managed to fight back — strength training was not in vain — and Katy instantly found a new victim (how awful, a female again) for kisses, hugs and dirty dances.”

“From what I can recall, there didn’t seem to be victims at the party,” she continued, “but I won’t be surprised by the flow of memories from unhappy fans who have had to carry this with them, and now suddenly remembered this vicious dignity.”

Kandelaki did not mention when or where the incident reportedly took place.

Response

While Perry has remained quiet on both accusations, others have jumped to her defense. 

Wujek, whose party was where the first accusation allegedly occurred, condemned Kloss in his original post about Perry.

“Oh hell no,” Wujek said. “I’m not about to let you make accusations against my friend like this. This is such bullshit. Katy would never do something like that. We all know about your ongoing obsession with her since the day of filming that video…. You were….planning an imaginary future with her….move on josh.”

Jewelry designer Markus Molinari — who has worked with Perry — also claimed Kloss had an “obsession” with Perry and told him to “move on.”

Another model who starred in Perry’s “Thinking of You” music video defended the singer in a separate post and called the accusation a “smear job.”

“What I can tell you is my personal experience and it was nothing but positive,” model Anderson Davis said. “Katy was extremely inspiring, sweet, darling, professional on set and off the few times that we ran into each other.”

“ Simply put…it sounds like a smear job to me,” he continued. “Maybe it’s always been this way, but moreso today, everyone seems so needy for attention no matter how they can get it , even at the cost of someone else’s reputation. We have a responsibility as a society as individuals not to be careless with our accusations or words.”

He also said none of Katy’s reps ever told him what to say when answering questions in interviews.

View this post on Instagram

I’d be 100% happy to defend Katy. After being contacted regarding my thoughts on this from numerous entertainment outlets, I’ve decided to give my own words here so that they couldn’t be twisted! I read an article regarding the male model’s thoughts and what he had claimed Katy Perry had done to him. What I can tell you is my personal experience and it was nothing but positive. Katy was extremely inspiring, sweet, darling, professional on set and off the few times that we ran into each other. I personally didn’t have anyone on Katy’s team lording over me to answer interview questions in any certain way. We made a beautiful music video , I worked with some very talented but more importantly great people, and made some friends that I’ve enjoyed drinks and dinner with over the years. Simply put…it sounds like a smear job to me. Maybe it’s always been this way, but moreso today, everyone seems so needy for attention no matter how they can get it , even at the cost of someone else’s reputation. We have a responsibility as a society as individuals not to be careless with our accusations or words. #katyperry

A post shared by ＡＮＤＥＲＳＯＮ ＤＡＶＩＳ (@theandersondavis) on Aug 13, 2019 at 9:06am PDT

Others online have noted the similarities the allegations share with the many accusations of sexual assault against prominent men as part of the #MeToo movement. They also express concern that Perry is being treated differently in regard to cancel culture, primarily because few prominent women have been accused of sexual misconduct.

Others have referenced an incident where the singer kissed a 19-year-old man on American Idol without his consent. In 2017, Perry kissed contestant Benjamin Glazer during the audition round after he said he had had yet to have his first kiss. Glazer described the kiss as “uncomfortable” but stopped short of calling it harassment.

See what others are saying: (InStyle) (The AV Club) (Mercury News)

• Supporters of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong are calling for a boycott of Disney’s live-action Mulan remake after the movie’s star, Lui Yifei, posted in support of police in the city.
• Hong Kong police have been criticized for their use of excessive force and violence during protests that began over a controversial extradition bill in June.

Lui Yifei Posts in Support of Hong Kong Police

After the star of Disney’s upcoming live-action Mulan spoke in support of Hong Kong police, #BoycottMulan began trending on Twitter. 

Liu Yifei, who will play the titular role in the remake of the 1998 animated classic, is a Chinese-born actress who moved to the United States at the age of ten and later received citizenship. She has since made a name for herself in China’s film industry. Liu publically backed the police on Weibo, a popular social media site in China, where she has 65 million followers.

“I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now,” she said on Wednesday. “What a shame for Hong Kong.”

Since June, pro-democracy protesters have been taking to the streets of Hong Kong, originally to fight a now-suspended extradition bill. Police and demonstrators have been clashing on a regular basis, and officers have been accused of using excessive force, including pepper spray and tear gas, in multiple cases. The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have all condemned the behavior of Hong Kong police. Protesters are now calling for an investigation into the police’s conduct.

Users Call for Boycott of Mulan

After the Mulan actress posted her statement, supporters of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement called for a boycott of the film, which is slated to come out in March 2020. The hashtag #BoycottMulan trended on Twitter, which is not accessible in China. 

“If she wanted to, she could be a powerful voice for justice,” one user said of Liu. “But instead, she supports this brutality.”

In addition to boycotting the film, others are also encouraging boycotting Disney as a whole.

Others, however, saw more nuance to the situation. Some believed that it is not easy for prominent Chinese celebrities to speak out against the police, as it could be viewed as speaking against China. 

Right now, Disney has not made a statement in reference to the boycott.

See what others are saying: (CBS News) (New York Times) (The Hollywood Reporter)