Spider-Man first appeared in the pages of a Marvel comic in 1962, as the publisher was developing a stable of new superheroes that also included Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk.
He has been a staple of the comic-book universe ever since, but Marvel sold the film rights to the character to Sony for US$7 million ($9.4 million) in 1999, several years before getting into the movie business itself. Fans have lobbied hard for Spidey to be integrated with his MCU peers on the big screen.
The next Spider-Man film will be co-produced by Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige and Sony's Amy Pascal. Feige has led Marvel's foray into film-making, with a run of hits such as last year's blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers and its imminent sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is tipped to break box-office records when it is released in May.
Pascal has overseen Peter Parker's on-screen outings ever since the first Spider-Man was released in 2002. Last week, it was announced that she would step down as studio chief following the recent Sony hack, but under a new producing deal she will continue to guide future Spider-Man projects. Sony will retain creative control of the franchise, which, with grosses of more than US$4 billion from its five films, is the most successful in the studio's history.
The Marvel deal comes, however, after last summer's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made just over US$700 million at the box office, a low for the series. The two studios intend to reboot and recast the character, after three films starring Tobey Maguire as the wall-crawling superhero, and two starring the British actor Andrew Garfield.
"I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie," Feige said.
"Amy has been deeply involved in the realisation on film of one of the world's most beloved characters. Marvel's involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU.
"I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years."
Four future titles in Marvel's lengthy slate have been rescheduled to accommodate its plans for Spider-Man, including Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther, the debut outing for Marvel's first black superhero, which is now set for release in July 2018.
If some fans have their way, Spider-Man may beat Black Panther to the punch: there is widespread speculation online that Marvel may replace Peter Parker with Miles Morales, a teenager from a black and Hispanic background who took on Spider-Man's mantle after Parker was killed in one story strand in 2011.
Sony reportedly plans to delay The Sinister Six, its forthcoming film about a group of Spider-Man supervillains, which was originally due in November 2016.
Marvel and Sony will continue to compete in the superhero arena with two other major studios. 20th Century Fox holds the film rights to two Marvel titles, Fantastic Four and X-Men, with a new Fantastic Four reboot coming this year.
Warner Bros owns the DC Comics brand, which includes Batman and Superman, who will appear together in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, followed by a series of cinematic outings for lesser-known DC heroes such as Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
