The impossible is now possible.

Overnight, while many fans slept (including myself), Marvel Studios announced something many fans and industry pundits alike thought would never happen - the Spider-Man franchise is returning home.

Yes, that’s right - per the press release at Marvel.com - Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have reached a deal to continue the Spider-Man movie franchise under the creative view of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, starting with a brand-new Spider-Man movie on July 28, 2017.

We’ll see the new Spider-Man in action before then, however, as the press release also indicates that he will appear first in a new Marvel film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some quick back of the napkin math tells me that the movie will most likely be Captain America: Civil War - since it definitely wouldn’t be Doctor Strange or Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - making Civil War an absolutely HUGE film, featuring Captain America, Iron Man, and the respective debuts of the new Spider-Man and Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther.

Really, my only complaint about the situation so far? The awkward way the press release describes the transition: “Sony is bringing Marvel into the amazing world of Spider-Man.“ You just know that there had to be some severe back and forth about how to phrase the transition, but we all know, it’s an addition of Spidey to the MCU, not MCU to Spidey. But I digress…

The Wall Street Journal goes a bit more in-depth on the announcement - understandably, as they were the first to share the prior discussions between Sony and Marvel, which leaked during the Sony hack. Among the details discussed by the WSJ, this new Spider-Man will indeed appear in Captain America: Civil War, and it will be a fresh start for the character, as Amazing Spider-Man franchise lead Andrew Garfield will be recast.

Personally, I think that’s a shame, as Garfield has done incredible work from both sides of the character, but has been let down by the disappointing scripts for both Amazing films. That said, Andrew Garfield is an incredible actor as shown via his turns in The Social Network and the Red Riding Trilogy, so I think we’ll continue to see great work from him.

Some fans have wondered if this will be a relaunch staring Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man of Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Universe. While I can certainly understand the excitement - I believe when you buy out McDonalds, you focus on the Big Mac, not the McNuggets. You go with what brought you to the dance. Marvel Studios gets to redefine the classic Peter Parker character for a new generation while gaining access to the most successful superhero franchise ever.  That said, I could absolutely see Miles eventually hitting the big screen, or even new things such as the newly popular “Spider-Gwen”.

How should Marvel approach this new Spider-Man? If there’s any justice in this world, IN MEDIA RES. While the response to the film was mixed (I liked it!), 2008’s The Incredible Hulk showed us that you can do a fun and proper superhero movie without focusing on retelling the origin. Do it over the opening credits if you must, but how cool would it be if the movie started - very simply - “You know who I am. I’m your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!”

Obviously, this has shaken up Marvel Studios plans for Phase 3 quite a bit.  I’m sure fans will be just fine with the shift, but a number of previously announced Marvel films now have new release dates. Thor: Ragnarok, originally set for a July 28, 2017 release, has been moved to November 3, 2017. Black Panther has been moved from November 3, 2017 to July 6, 2018. Captain Marvel has moved from July 6, 2018 to November 2, 2018. Finally, The Inhumans has moved from November 2, 2018 to July 12, 2019.  The Phase 3 slate continues to be a gutsy mix of sequels and new films for lesser-known properties, but with Spider-Man in the mix, it looks stronger than ever.

Back in 2008, Marvel Studios proposed the impossible - a series of superhero films culminating in The Avengers. We said they were crazy then, and they proved us wrong. We thought that we’d never see Spider-Man mix it up with the MCU. We were wrong. I can’t wait to see what we’re wrong about next.