Forum > Non-Gaming Discussion > Is the character Spider-Man a big deal? And...
Is the character Spider-Man a big deal? And...
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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 08:49:26
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...can someone explain to me the whole licensing deal with Spider-Man? Like movies and games. I understand he is currently not with the publishers or studios that have the rights to the other Marvel characters.

My only exposure to Spider-Man is when I was a kid I had a Spider-Ham comic book (in which Peter Porker battled anti-video gaming proponents -- seriously). I have not played any Spider-Man games, seen any movies, cartoons or TV shows. Honestly. Is he a big deal on the scale of Batman or Mickey Mouse (other characters that have big multi-platform licensing deals)?

Reaon I ask is I heard some adult men on a podcast gushing about Spider-Man to the point they were giddy.

This is the one I had:

spider-ham

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:08:08
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By my estimation, Spider-man is the largest Marvel property.  In the gaming space, Activision got the rights to Spider-man way back and have done them ever since.  Sony had movie rights for the first three live-action films, but don't think they have that anymore.  I'll leave it to the actual comic buffs to tell me I'm wrong.

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:33:16
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I know for sure that Activision has to make a game per year to keep Spider-man. I'm guessing the movie guys have a similar obligation.

I heard a good one last week: Someone said they were going to see the new Spider-man movie because they wanted to see what the PS4 font would look like.

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 09:53:49
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Yeah, looks like Sony does still have the Spider-man movie rights.  They just did a horrible reboot with it.

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:40:56
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Disney will reclaim the movie rights eventually.

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 22:01:50
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That's right Disney owns Marvel now right? So Sony loses the movie rights to Disney (and Disney already has the rights to all the other Marvel characters?).

On the game side I guess Activision has Spidey now and they also have to give it back to Disney at some point (if they fail to meet their publishing obligation)? Does that sound right?

I am assuming both Activision and Sony have first right of refusal in terms of keeping up their licensing agreement so as long as they are making money they will hang onto Spider-man.

Where's Robio when you need him?

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:19:31
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As far as the Spider-Man character, yes he's a big deal. Even though his comic books may not have been the top selling Marvel book (during the 90's it was usually X-men and these days it usually rotates between an Avengers book, Spidey, or X-men depending on what's hot), he's considered to be the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe. He's got an everyman quality that seems to continue to connect with people over the decades, and Marvel for the most part has done a good job of keeping him in touch with the common man as opposed to someone who is a billionare like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, or a god-like character like Superman. Typically when you see polls or surveys or top 10 lists of "who is the best comic book character" generally he's number 1 (sometimes Batman squeaks in there though).  He's had more cartoons based on him than any other character, and his movies have been a pretty big hit. We love Spidey!

As far as the character's licenses, I'm honestly not sure who owns it. Universal has theme park rides, Activision has the games, and hell all of Marvel's stuff is kind of all over the place. Currently Disney doesn't own film rights to Fantastic Four, X-men, Wolvering, Ghost Rider, or Spider-Man. Eventually though when all the contract's end it all goes back to Disney, though if I recall some of those contracts extended 10 years into the future after Marvel was bought, so I think it's still a good 8 years or so until all of the properties are back in Disney's hands.

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Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:52:47
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^ Yup. Sony has Spiderman for a while, or else they wouldnt have started a new franchise. Marvel got a hold of the Avengers movies but I believe Paramount was their partner, still it allowed them to do the crossovers.

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Wed, 04 Jul 2012 02:41:41
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Geez, you've got Spidy thumb practically sticking out of Spider Ham's groin and Vader's extra penis sense isn't tingling?

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Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:45:00
So ehat happened in the newest Marvel v Capcom? No Spidey?

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Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:17:49
Foolz said:

Geez, you've got Spidy thumb practically sticking out of Spider Ham's groin and Vader's extra penis sense isn't tingling?

LOL

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Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:34:26
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aspro said:
So ehat happened in the newest Marvel v Capcom? No Spidey?

Spider-man is still in those games.

Edited: Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:35:57

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