The Loophole: Spider-Man CAN Be a Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe WITHOUT Sony's Involvement

If you read my last Marvel Cinematic Universe speculation thread, you know I'm one of those fans that hopes Sony and Marvel can reach a deal to share Spider-Man's film rights, making the Amazing Spider-Man series part of the larger universe and include the character in future Avengers films. Just imagine Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man interacting with Chris Evans' Captain America or Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. At this point though, any talk of a deal is just rumor. While I could see this as still a possibility, I have recently discovered something that could avoid the legal process of such a task.

In doing some research for a possible blog post, I came across this article from late 2009 of the new that Sony had sold back Spider-Man's television rights back to Marvel and Disney for an extension on the film rights, announcing the intent to reboot in early 2010:
http://collider.com/disney-and-marvel-web-up-spider-man-tv-rights/
Now many would assume this only talks of animation, considering the only thing Marvel has done with the rights is the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. But then there's this bit:

"Sony has relinquished all television rights for the web slinger in favor of some more favorable film options for the property. Not only does this open up the future for animated projects, but could possibly give us the opportunity for a Smallville-esque live action Spider-series."

At that time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had only just begun, and the thought of television tie-ins was far from anyone's minds. Today, Marvel has Agents of SHIELD in its second season and an Agent Carter miniseries planned on ABC, and a deal with Netflix for four shows based on Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, all leading to a Defenders miniseries. Since most people still see the movies as the important thing, and for the most part they are, they forget that the universe continues to expand on the small screen. All that said, that bring me to my main point: whether it be on ABC or a future wave of Netflix series, and while he wouldn't be able to appear in any of their films, Marvel is well within their rights to produce a live action Spider-Man television series and have it set within their cinematic universe. Essentially, this places Spider-Man, and all his related characters, within the same gray area that allows Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to be used by both Fox's X-Men franchise and Marvel.

Now while I'd still be in favor of making the Amazing Spider-Man series part of the MCU, since it's still up in the air, why waste time waiting? Spider-Man is perfect to base a live action television series on, and it could give Marvel an answer to DC's success with the Flash series on the CW.
Besides that, currently, Sony's plans for the franchise have been all over the place since the shortcomings of the second film. Instead of focusing on the main series, they foolishly believe that spin-offs are the way to go. Characters like the Sinister Six and Venom have yet to appear, but Sony still wants to make films based on them before they're even introduced in the main series. I'm not sure they understand what a spin-off is. But the real problem though is that Sony is trying to use the shared universe model for Spider-Man like Marvel and DC are. But when you have a franchise that focuses on only one superhero, there's only so far you can go. At least with the original trilogy, they focused on one film at a time, although a long-term plan wouldn't be out of the question. While I love the new series, Sony has to realize that they can't compete on the same level with other studios and that they shouldn't treat the films as a product they're trying to market for the current craze. It's that meddling that lead to the mixed reactions of not only Amazing Spider-Man 2, but also Spider-Man 3 when they pushed for Sam Raimi to include Venom, and we all know that led to the reboot in the first place. I really want to have faith in this new series, but I can't help but worry about my favorite character on the film front. But there's still bold ground to be made for the character on television, and by Marvel no less.

So even though Marvel is still getting the ball rolling on multiple television series for their cinematic universe, you would have to wonder why they haven't announced any plans for the wall-crawler. While Marvel's proven they don't need Spider-Man or X-Men to be a success, they still have at least one of those within some reach to use. It could be they already have something in the works, but I also more likely believe that they haven't even considered it. It's possible that given the good relationship between Marvel and Sony, there's seems to be some trust with them. But considering Sony's current predicament, unless Marvel can give Sony's Spidey an Avengers-boost, they can just as easily make their own version for television and worry about a movie when/if they get the rights back. That's the same possibility the heroes starring in the Netflix series have. They may also not want to confuse viewers with two different versions between Sony's movies and their own possible television show. Well not only should they give people more credit, they need to realize that the confusion ship has already sailed. Consider the following:

1. Between Marvel and Fox, we have two versions of Quicksilver in different franchises.
2. DC has decided to keep their TV and film universes separate, becoming clear with the casting of Ezra Miller as the Flash for the cinematic universe while Grant Gustin plays the character on television.
3. To the best of my knowledge, nobody was confused when Superman Returns came out during Smallville's run on TV.

A big part of why people want Spider-Man in the MCU is to interact with other Marvel characters, and some may worry that wouldn't happen if he's restricted to TV. That's not necessarily true. There's many possibilities for Spider-Man to interact with the larger universe. Like Arrow and Flash, Spidey could have a crossover with Agents of SHIELD. And considering the New York backdrop, there's always the chance of seeing meetings with other vigilantes from the Netflix shows. Just imagine good old fashioned team-up of Spidey and Daredevil against the Kingpin. But then you have the bigger stars from the movies. That's not truly out of the question either. Not only have Samuel L. Jackson and Colby Smulders reprised their roles of Nick Fury and Maria Hill for guest appearances on Agents of SHIELD, but both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Pratt have expressed interest in appearing as Iron Man and Star Lord on the show. Finally, it seems Marvel is building the "Infinity War" 2 part film as a major event across the whole universe, and that definitely means any TV shows running at the time would have tie-ins to the film. It would be just like a regular comic book event with a main story and multiple side stories.
But connecting everything aside, it would be Spider-Man's show after all. The character and his history is rich and ripe with source material to adapt. Also take in the fact that's the everyman out of all superheroes. There's needs to be a good balance between the action as well as the drama occurring in Peter Parker's life that viewers can relate to. While "The Spectacular Spider-Man" animated series is considered by many to be the character's best interpretation outside of the comics and "Ultimate Spider-Man" forgoes the personal life and focuses mainly on superhero team-ups, the example to look at to pull this off is the 90's animated series. Not only does it show the balance of action and drama Spider-Man brings, but it occasionally featured team-ups with other Marvel heroes at least twice a season, not relying on them like "Ultimate" does. This included Nick Fury, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, Punisher, and Blade. They also did it in a way that not only showed how badass the guest hero was but also manage to keep the focus on Spidey. If there's anything that Marvel can channel when creating a live action Spidey series, it would be the 90's series.

So what say my readers? Would you be down with Marvel making their own live action Spidey show? Do you think they even realize they're able to? If you're a Spidey fan and would love to see this, then help spread this message around and share this around, especially to other Spidey fans. It's possible we can get Marvel's attention with this and they'll take action.

So let's get to work, people. Spidey is home. He just needs a wake-up call.