The recent dissolution of the deal between Marvel and Sony over the Spider-Man movie rights proved devastating to fans hoping to see more of the wall-crawler in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Initial reactions hooked onto the cliffhanger ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the box office success of which seemingly prompted the Disney/Sony dispute in the first place. It seemed immediately clear that the separation would hurt Spider-Man and the MCU alike.
However, now that the news has settled in, it seems the split may prove beneficial in the long run. It remains completely unclear at this time what the future of either property may involve, and questions about whether Spider-Man is bound for another reboot or if the MCU is about to quietly ignore its web-slinger are totally up in the air. But maybe this could all work out for the best.
From a sheer world-building perspective, there is already so much going on in the MCU that clearing out Marvel's most popular character may give the rest of the cast plenty of room to grow. Comics often attract criticism from diehard fans who feel popular characters get shoehorned in at the expense of others, and for characters like Falcon or Scarlet Witch there just aren't many opportunities to shine on the silver screen. Kids who grew up on Spidey can rest assured they'll still see him at the movies by the time they're in a nursing home, but the little guys aren't such a sure bet.
After a decade of upping the ante, the MCU is also regularly dealing with threats too big for spider-tights. Even before Spider-Man's introduction there were alien armies invading from other worlds and cybernetic despots dropping countries from the sky. When Thanos came along throwing moons and erasing existence, Spider-Man's place in the background already felt a little superfluous.
The more appropriate characters to deal with such threats could have more room on the stage for their debut in Spidey's absence. Disney's acquisition of Fox, and Kevin Feige's resolve to act on it makes it clear that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are not far off, and super teams who fight world-ending mutants like Apocalypse or planet-eating cosmic entities like Galactus would be a far better fit than the teenager who punches muggers.
There is no doubt that Spider-Man regularly punches above his weight class, but it would feel like a waste of time and hollow fan service to have him swing onto the screen every time New York was attacked. Spidey's absence from such events would be no more problematic to continuity than Marvel's current shunning of the television and Netflix characters, after all. And unlike the Defenders, Spider-Man may actually be utilized elsewhere rather than outright ignored.
Like most popular characters, Spider-Man is well known for his diverse supporting cast, who would all get more room in a Sony film. Rather than shoehorning in outside MCU characters like Nick Fury or Happy Hogan, Sony would be free to introduce Peter Parker's friends, family and co-workers. Whether it's past girlfriends like Betty Brant and Liz Allen or professional relationships like Ben Urich and Jean DeWolffe, there are still so many characters Spider-Man movies have left to explore.
And let's not forget the villains. While no Spider-Man franchise seems to stick around long enough to successfully build the team, the Sinister Six are perfect for a climactic film finale. The MCU feels too cramped to introduce so many big villains, and the question of why other heroes don't get involved is ever-present, but a Spider-Man film that really has room to breath would let characters like Hobgoblin or Hydro Man stand out like they never have before.
Far from overwhelmingly bad news, the Disney/Sony split over Spider-Man could prove to be a good thing for both studios. Sure, there are some dropped plot threads, continuity troubles and crossover moments fans won't get to see pan out, but when both worlds have so much from the comics to explore and only so much time to do it in, the separation of the two may actually pan out to be a positive.