Let me just start off by saying that THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN has been getting quite the hate simply because it didn't deliver the untold story that we were promised. Despite this, I have found 13 reasons as to why I believe TASM is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Starting with...
REASON #1: PETER’S PARENTS
Let’s start this with Peter Parker’s parents. Now, I’m pretty sure I’m going to sound like a broken record since almost every one defending this movie hides behind this reason and to tell you truth …they DO have a point. We all know that in the comics, Richard and Mary Parker are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and since everyone is pretty much aware that S.H.I.E.L.D. has a MAJOR role in The Avengers, it’s only logical that this makes sense. Which leads me to my second point…
REASON #2: THE S.H.I.E.L.D. PRESENCE IN THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
S.H.I.E.L.D. plays a pretty big role in the MCU, so why would Sony’s TASM introduce Peter’s mom and dad and have zero connection to S.H.I.E.L.D.? If this new series of films will focus on Peter’s parents, it’s gonna have to either:
1. Tie into MCU eventually.
2. Give us all a damn good reason for why they have absolutely NOTHING TO DO with MCU.
Personally, If they don’t tie TASM into MCU and instead come up with some bullcrap excuse as to why Richard and Mary left Peter without connecting them to S.H.I.E.L.D., It’s gonna feel like a massive letdown especially knowing what really happens in the comics. Also considering that they’d piss off a lot of Spider-man fans.
REASON #3: THE ORIGIN STORY DONE RIGHT:
Let’s just say Marvel was going to allow Spider-Man into their MCU, I can tell you right now, Marvel was sure as hell not going to let that fat bastard Maguire suit up with the rest of the gang. Nuh Uh! We needed a new Spider-man! thus TASM was born! Despite the whole “PARENTS STORYLINE BEING DROPPED” This is a more realistic approach to the origin story and one that makes much more sense than the old one. I always asked myself “How come the spider chose Peter?” but in this film, It shows a curious Peter Parker sneaking in Oscorp (Because he is super smart) and the spider-room where HE tinkered with the machine and all the spiders fell on him. It was his own fault! That’s what I loved about this film. The origin story is very crucial to the spider-man mythos and can’t be done in 15 mins! *cough cough SAM RAIMI! I do believe that this version fits rather nicely with what the MCU has created.
REASON #4: OSCORP TOWER IN THE AVENGERS
This one has been done to death but I’d like to include it anyways. A while back it was mentioned how the Oscorp tower seen in TASM, was really close to being in The Avengers. Even though the reason for why this was didn’t happen was simply because The Avengers buildings and stuff had already been finalized and it was a little to late for that. Despite this, It shows that Marvel Studios was willing as Sony was too. Most people seem to overlook that. Both parties were willing to…share…hmmm.
REASON #5: CASHCOW…REALLY?
As you all know, Sony was going to lose the rights to Spidey if they didn’t have anything cooking in the oven by this year so a lot of us speculated or perhaps already drew the conclusion that this reboot was only made simple because Sony didn’t wanna lose the rights. I disagree. Since Spider-Man 4 was drowning in a puddle of piss, Sony wasn’t able to come to an agreement with Sam Raimi, so they eventually pulled the plug on the project and the movie was cancelled. Yada Yada! Now here’s the interesting part…Sony is not stupid. They’ve made stupid decisions leading into half-assed box-office bombs, but they are not stupid. So…WHY WOULD THEY WAIT 5 YEARS? Is it possible that Sony saw Marvel’s success as an opportunity to redeem themselves? Maybe or maybe not. But I can’t help but notice one little detail. Why Reboot? Sony could have easily kicked Raimi to the curve and given another director the chair, Maguire more money and could have made another movie (Pretty sure it’d make Spider-Man 3 look like an Oscar worthy film) but would have still made A LOT of chedder. Might have even hit the billion mark. Instead they took the risk of starting from scratch with new director, new actor, new everything. This could have bombed hard when they could have had another box office monster! Good question?
REASON #6: NEVER…REALLY….FULLY DENIED?
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I don’t recall EVER hearing that TASM in NOT in the MCU. I mean, there are so many rumors going around about how Garfield’s Spider-Man can tie into The Avengers timeline you’d figure by now MARVEL STUDIOS would be like “QUIT IT! SPIDER-MAN IS NOT IN THE [FRICKING] MCU! GET OVER IT!”. I know it’s been mentioned how TASM lives in it’s own universe but I think that’s just an excuse so fan boys (like myself) don’t get overly excited. Until Kevin Feige confirms that TASM is not in MCU, then and only then shall I rest my case.
REASON #7: POV SHOTS
C’mon guys, The picture speaks for itself doesn’t it? Tell me this is NOT just a coincidence. If TASM had nothing to do with MCU, Then I’d imagine that Sony couldn’t do anything Marvel did…vice versa. Like for example, I heard that MARVEL STUDIOS is not allowed to use the word “mutants” in any of their films because Fox holds the rights to the X-Men and that word is part of that property. Also, there might be a few of you who might think “But both films came out during the same year? How could either of them have known they‘d use this idea?” Well if that was true, I’m pretty sure they’d be filing lawsuits up each others asses. Would they not? They even used this on Iron Man 3 as it was clearly seen in the trailer! Marvel and Sony must have worked out some sort of deal. I’m sorry, anyone can disagree all they want…but they have to admit, this pokes at MCU connection big-time.
REASON #8: THE TONE
Both TASM and The Avengers are unrealistic (yes I know that, aren’t all superhero movies?) but what separates these two (and all of MARVEL STUDIOS films) is that there done in a way that is GROUNDED TO REALITY. Making it seem like this kinda thing could be possible. Like for example, Do you honestly see Maguire’s happy & cheesy Spider-Man (Not meant as a diss) fitting into the MCU? Hell No! Why? Because it feels too fake. The EXTREMELY WELL PUT TOGETHER costume, organic webs, insane jumping ability to the point where it becomes something that can’t be taken seriously, and everything else that doesn’t incorporate it’s surroundings. TASM still has it’s cheesy moments on occasions but takes in consideration lots of aspects. Like the running shoes (vs. Maguire’s Spidey flippers that could technically be considered socks) seem like they would have better grip, run across more surfaces comfortably, kick harder etc. I dunno, but what I do know is that Peter’s intellect is shown in the way the suit was put together in essence. Even the swinging looks real! (Most parts). All the costumes and powers in MCU look legit and not so cheesy while still remaining faithful to the comics.
REASON #9: THE TECHNOLOGY
This isn't a big reason, but I just wanted to point out that the technology is very similar…I couldn't help but notice.
REASON #10: NOW, WHY WOULDN'T THEY?
The Avengers committed box office assasination, so wouldn’t it be logical if ALL studios wanted to do business with them? Have any of you noticed that ever since The Avengers came out, most studios have been trying to whip out their movies too? Stupid FOX recently lost the right to Daredevil on my birthday because they didn’t act quick enough! Announcing reboots and stuff, You’d imagine instead of a studio being like “NO! We will never share this character you created with you!” if anything they’d want to share because that would give their movies a REALLY good chance of being successful! And give us (the fans) what we really want! So everybody wins. I’m sure Sony has jumped on this train, we’ll just have to wait and see if FOX has pulled that stick out of their ass and done the same.
REASON #11: AVI ARAD
Producer Avi Arad himself has said he would love to see Spider-Man in a future Avengers movie but also said that Spider-Man is an individual character that has SOOOOOOO many story arcs to keep him busy for quite a while. I do like how he is open to the idea and I do agree with him. Spidey does have lots of solo stories and in fact, that’s what makes Spider-Man such a relatable character that he does goes through many tragedies/tough times in his life mostly on his own. By the way, Spider-Man doesn’t ACTUALLY become a member of the Avengers till like later! I personally wouldn’t mind seeing him in Avengers 3. Fingers crossed!
REASON #12: ANDREW GARFIELD IS PETER PARKER
Andrew Garfield has been praised for his incredible performance as Peter Parker/Spider-Man by fans and critics alike. He has made this role his own and I personally would not want to see anyone else as Peter Parker. Just like The Chrises, Mark Ruffalo and RDJ, he plays the awkwardness of the character so brilliantly. C’mon Marvel make it happen!
REASON #13: AND THE FAMOUS “LET’S SAY WHAT IF…”
Okay If you still don’t find my reasons valid at this point, please set aside you’re complains and let’s just say “Spider-Man was in MCU”. How would he fit in? A lot of people think that Samuel L. Jackson needs to show up in the end in order for it to happen, but it’s really not that complicated, I saw in a post once that mentioned Peter walking down the street on his way to the Daily Bugle, when he decides to get a hot dog and as he’s waiting, he hears the guy in front of him talking to this other guy saying “Hey, who do you think would win in a fight? Spider-Man or that Stark-guy?” Simple as that. Now regarding the timeline, This could be before or after The Avengers (After would explain the Cranes) so who knows. It’s not super hard, they’d just have to plan it very carefully and not mess it up *cough cough SONY!.
Thanks guys for reading this REALLY long editorial! I really appreciate it. Huge fan of the site as I just wanted to share my ideas and maybe perhaps give anyone who really wants Spider-Man in MCU (like me) a few reasons to believe that’s still more than a possibility.
Oh! And I also wanted to say really quickly, Regarding the blue fingers on Spidey’s costume, What if he drew inspiration from Captain America seeing that he too has a little blue in his gloves? Hmm?