Marvel fans must be putting off some good juju today because Walt Disney Pictures announced that they will be enlisting Sony Pictures‘ friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to The Avengers team. In an epic deal of immense proportions, Sony will slowly start to integrate the Marvel Cinematic Universe into Peter Parker’s world while Marvel Studios begins to incorporate pieces of Spider-Man’s into the MCU. More details on how this works into The Avengers 3 after the jump.

Earlier last year, Sony had announced they weren’t looking to sell Spider-Man back to Marvel Studios, but that didn’t mean a deal couldn’t be struck between the two to meet in the middle. With the announcement of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 last November, Sony set the wheels in motion to begin segueing the story of Peter Parker into the MCU, according to Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal:

“We knew Peter Parker’s story couldn’t be contained within his own universe for much longer without crossing over into Marvel Studios territory. It wouldn’t be fair to the fans of the character. We spoke with Kevin [Feige] and Joss [Whedon] soon after The Avengers hit theaters in 2012 to discuss one key element that caught our interest, Thanos.”

Marvel Studios has been setting up more fantastical elements with Guardians of the Galaxy hitting theaters this summer and Avengers: Age of Ultron releasing in 2015, so it is easy to believe that they could take pieces of Spider-Man’s vast mythology into account when introducing Thanos as the Phase 3 big bad. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 has been set for 2016 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4 in 2018, which is time enough to incorporate pieces of the MCU into those films before The Avengers 3 in 2018.

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige had recently teased more than two films per year after Age of Ultron, and Spider-Man may be what he was eluding to. This sentiment eschoes further in today’s announcement:

“We are very pleased to have come to an agreement with Sony [Pictures] so that we can give fans what they truly deserve: a true Marvel Cinematic Universe where all Marvel superheroes can freely interact with one another. Spider-Man has such a great rapport with many of the characters we have already established into film and we look forward to working with Sony in order to create exciting new stories alongside what we have planned for Phase 3.”

Exact numbers as to who will gain the biggest piece of the pie has not been announced, but we will be sure to update you as the story progresses. Andrew Garfield is under contract to reprise his role in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but not 4. This is a huge factor to consider because who would pass up the opportunity for such an occasion? All we need to do is convince FOX to let The Fantastic Four and the X-Men join the party so we can bring on the Skrulls.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens this weekend, Friday, April 4; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrives May 2, 2014; Guardians of the Galaxy makes its big debut on August 1, 2014; and Avengers: Age of Ultron springs into action on May 1, 2015.

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Source: Walt Disney Pictures