Spider-Man was supposed to appear in She-Hulk before legal issues blocked it

Spider-Man on a She-Hulk background

Spider-Man on a She-Hulk background

Marvel’s upcoming She-Hulk series is confirmed to have a number of crazy cameos to please MCU fans. However, it turns out that one more fan favourite superhero was planned to appear: Spider-Man.

That’s right, plans the upcoming Disney+ series planned to use the web-slinger for a fun cameo. Unfortunately, this request was denied.

No Spider-Man cameo for She-Hulk

Jessica Gao, the head writer and series creator of She-Hulk, mentions how the writers wanted to use a number of characters from Marvel comics. Unsurprisingly, many of them were really hoping to use Spider-Man in the show but weren’t given permission. Characters associated with Spider-Man are also off the table, according to Gao.

"But I will say, the one MCU character that really bummed out a lot of the writers in our room that we couldn’t use was Spider-Man and anyone involved around– like in the Spider-Man universe. Because we had so many Spider-Man fans in the room,” Gao told The Direct.

While not outright mentioned, it seems that Spider-Man wasn’t allowed to appear due to the character’s film rights still belonging to Sony. Marvel Studios and Sony do have a deal that lets Spider-Man appear in MCU crossover films but it seems that their use of him is limited, hence not appearing in She-Hulk.

With The Hulk rights still owned by Universal, She-Hulk is already a legal nightmare. Imagine if Spidey characters joined the fray! It would be a mess.

Read More: She-Hulk producer regrets overdoing the show's CGI

Who needs Spider-Man?

Spider-Man might be the most popular superhero Marvel has ever made but She-Hulk doesn’t outright need the character to be a success. Aside from the signature MCU branding that will ensure some fans will enjoy it, the show already has cameos from Incredible Hulk villain The Abomination and everyone’s favorite blind lawyer Daredevil.

Cameos aside, She-Hulk is also venturing into the courtroom comedy genre, which is new to the MCU. The cinematic brand tends to thrive when experimenting with other genres and this could make She-Hulk one of the fresher feeling shows in this universe thus far. That’s not to say Spider-Man couldn’t make the show enjoyable but it doesn’t need him to be good.

Fans can catch She-Hulk on Disney+ later this month, on August 18. Sony’s Spider-Man movies are also available on the streaming service.

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