Joss Whedon Really Wanted To Put Spider-Man In 'Avengers: Age Of Ultron'

Early on, there was speculation that Spider-Man could appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Now that Avengers: Age of Ultron is actually in theaters, of course, we know that's not the case. But according to director Joss Whedon, it wasn't his choice to leave Spidey out — he wanted the character for the movie. So why didn't the beloved character make the cut? Find out after the jump. 

Whedon addressed the Avengers Age of Ultron Spider-Man rumors during an appearance on the Empire Film Podcast. Speaking about the Avengers lineup at the end of the movie, he revealed:

I wanted all those people. I said, it would be great if we could just add a few more, if we could have a Captain Marvel there, that you've made a deal for. And they talked about it. I was like, 'And Spider-Man, we could do that too, cause Sony had approached us during the first movie about a little integration.

So I would have put both of them in, but neither of the deals were made. And then they were like, 'We're making a Captain Marvel movie and we've got Spider-Man as a property,' and I'm like, 'I've already locked my film, you fuckers! Thanks for nothing.'

Marvel Studios has already explained why Captain Marvel wasn't in the movie, despite initial plans to include the character. As Kevin Feige has explained, "it would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, 'Who is that?'"

For Spidey, though, it sounds like timing was the big issue. The Sony / Marvel deal for Spider-Man was officially announced in February. It wouldn't have been impossible at that point to do some additional shooting for Avengers: Age of Ultron's May release, but it's understandable that they didn't want to make a big change that late in the game.

It's probably for the best. Avengers: Age of Ultron was already so crowded that fan favorite Loki got left on the cutting room floor, even after Tom Hiddleston shot his scene. As cool as it would have been to see Spider-Man swing by, it's probably better to save him until he has a chance to really shine.

Instead, Spider-Man is likely to make his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War (due out May 6, 2016) before starring in his own solo film on July 28, 2017.