Yesterday, fandom was rocked by the devastating news that Spider-Man has been exiled from the Marvel Cinematic Universe because of a failed deal between Sony and Disney. (At least for now–negotiations aren’t completely dead and this could just be a power play to make one side give in.) Fingers were pointed, jimmies were rustled, and as the implications set in (Will Spider-Man have to be recast yet again? How many times are they going to make Uncle Ben die? How DARE they? etc.), social media exploded with calls to #SaveSpidey.
(Possible spoilers for Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, so click at your own peril.)
Leading the pack was the MCU’s very own Hawkeye, aka Jeremy Renner, who took to his Instagram with a plea to keep Spider-Man in the MCU. Posting a photo of himself in character as Clint awash in somber violet lighting, he wrote, “Hey @sonypictures we want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please, thank you #congrats #spidermanrocks#🏹 #please.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1aLBNZDPOl/
Meanwhile, another red-clad Marvel superhero with dubious MCU status weighed in. When one fan asked Ryan Reynolds whether the news would grant us a Spider-Man/Deadpool cross-over, he aimed right for the feels, writing:
“You can. But you can only see it in my heart.”
You can. But you can only see it in my heart.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 20, 2019
Elsewhere, fans assembled their greatest MCU memes in mourning and indignation. Check out some of the best below.
https://twitter.com/ggiannallaperna/status/1164171850932457480
https://twitter.com/kirishapraba/status/1164169795178135552
https://twitter.com/serafine_af/status/1164060727310635008
https://twitter.com/manuelaguds/status/1164128307354525696
https://twitter.com/extracoolcam101/status/1164191745598300162
Sony: Spider-Man is no longer part of the MCU.
Me:#SpiderManFarFromTheMCU #SaveSpidey #boycottsonypictures pic.twitter.com/vKXSwiI9mx
— 🥀Johnny🥀 (@JohnnyOfcourse) August 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/AnshK_25/status/1164148566186586112
https://twitter.com/Lacunasin/status/1164164363617546240
Spider-Man became an Avenger, went through the blip , fought thanos and his army, lost his father figure, got blind sided from mysterio, fought mysterio, got a gf and then got exposed. YOU CANT JUST TAKE HIM OUT OF THE MCU AFTER ALL OF THIS #SaveSpidey #SaveSpiderMan pic.twitter.com/HQz9f7IbtX
— al (@peetasliv) August 21, 2019
Tom Holland rolling up to Marvel Studios to film the third Spider-Man movie #SaveSpidey #SpiderManFarFromTheMCU #SaveSpiderman #SpiderMan pic.twitter.com/nlORBIRVkU
— grace ♡︎’s fae & alyssa (@carolina_tpwk) August 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/savemcuspidey/status/1163940311216926721
