Disney Boss Explains How Tom Holland Saved Spider-Man's MCU Life

Now that cooler heads have prevailed and Spider-Man is firmly back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the details on how exactly Disney Studios and Sony Pictures reconciled are being revealed. As it turns out, Spider-Man really is the hero of this story.

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his new book--which we read and found to be packed with strange stories about the MCU and Star Wars--and revealed precisely how Tom Holland, who plays the world's favorite web-slinger, had a crucial role in bringing Spidey back to the MCU. It all started at Disney's D23 convention when Holland appeared to promote the upcoming animated film Onward and thanked MCU fans for supporting him as Spider-Man. After that, Holland sprung into action.

"After D23, Tom reached out to folks that work for me and said, 'Can I please have Bob's email address or phone number,'" Iger said during his Kimmel interview. After getting the CEO's phone number, he made a call.

"He cried on the phone. No, not really," Iger joked. "It was clear that he cared so much and we care a lot about him. And he's a great Spider-Man, isn't he?"

Between Holland's call and fans continuing to clamor for some resolution, Iger said he decided to give it one last shot.

"So after I got off the phone with him, I made a couple of phone calls to our team at Disney Studios," he recalled. "And then I decided to call the head of Sony, and I said, 'We've got to figure out a way to get this done. For Tom and for the fans.' And we did."

For Iger, Holland's call and the fans seem to have reminded him about a vital piece of the puzzle that was overlooked. "Sometimes, you know, companies when they negotiate or people when they're negotiating with one another, they kind of forget there are other folks out there that actually matter," he said.

With the deal now closed, it's been announced that Spider-Man will appear in at least one more MCU movie, with executive producer Kevin Feige continuing to work on Sony's Spider-Man films for the remainder of the new deal. Of course, they could always strike yet another deal when this one ends.

For now, we know the next time we'll see Spider-Man on the big screen is when the currently untitled third film in the Spidey franchise opens on July 16, 2021. That is unless Marvel decides to sneak the character into one of the upcoming Phase 4 films already announced.