In September 2021, Marvel filed a lawsuit on the Steve Ditko estate in order to keep the Spider-Man character in Marvel’s pantheon after his estate filed a termination of copyright. If successful, the characters Ditko co-created like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange would revert back to Ditko’s family in 2023. Jack Kirby’s heirs filed a similar motion with Captain America and The Incredible Hulk characters. The courts ruled in favor of Disney/Marvel in 2011
History and Rights to Characters
Iron Man (2008) was a gamble at the time due to the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man’s status as a B-list hero at best in the comics. Before that, Sony released the first Spider-Man film released in 2002. To keep the rights to the character, they’ve released a Spider-Man film every few years. In 2016, Sony and Marvel Studios formed a temporary partnership in which they shared the character and divided the work required to bring a new movie version of the character to light such as marketing and promotion. In 2019 Disney bought Fox and obtained the X-men, Deadpool and the Fantastic Four franchises from the deal.
The only Marvel Comic’s character not under Disney’s intellectual property is Spider-Man. Since the deal was signed a month before “Avengers: End Game” was released in theaters, there has been speculation on whether Disney should or would buy Sony. A more realistic method of getting the rights back to Marvel Studios would involve another company buying Sony. Someone like Apple. If a deal like that is struck, the rights of the character would revert back to Disney.
