Spiderman leaving MCU: Tom Holland's last appearance in Marvel universe?

Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland have all played the superhero

Spider-Man is one of the most recognisable Marvel characters on the planet.

However, it looks like our favourite web-shooting, wall-climbing superhero will no longer be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) following a split between Disney (which owns Marvel Studios) and Sony.

The news has come as a bit of a blow for many fans as it seems that actor Tom Holland, who plays the character in four Marvel movies, may not be making any more MCU appearances in the future.

Spider-Man's departure from the MCU is pretty sad news. But what's the story of this character and how did he end up in the Marvel universe in the first place? Read on to find out more.

The evolution of Spider-Man

Spider-Man began life as an idea thought up by creative geniuses Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

The character appeared in a comic book for the very first time back in 1962. It told the story of teen Peter Parker, who gained some spider-like powers after he was bitten by an arachnid.

Peter chooses to use his newfound abilities to fight against evil while donning the famous red and blue costume.

Spider-Man first burst onto the big screen back in 2002. Tobey Maguire played the awkward teen genius in the first three movies, with Kirsten Dunst playing the superhero's love interest Mary Jane.

The trilogy was produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, and made a huge $2.5 billion (about £2 billion), firmly cementing Spider-Man as a much-loved movie character.

Andrew Garfield went on to play the leading role in The Amazing Spiderman (2012) and The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014).

Back in 2015, Disney and its Marvel Studios made a deal with Sony, which introduced Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

This meant that Disney and Sony would make future films featuring Spider-Man too, and would share the money made from those films.

Following the deal, British actor Tom Holland made his first appearance as the character in Captain America: Civil War in 2016, fighting alongside the likes of Iron Man, Winter Soldier and Black Widow.

He's also starred as the spidey-sensing superhero in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Marvel's newest movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home.

A very different approach was taken in the making of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, produced by Columbia Records and Sony.

The animated movie, which is the seventh standalone Spider-Man film, tells the story of Miles Morales, a Puerto-Rican and African American teenager from Brooklyn.

He has some huge shoes to fill, taking on the role of Spider-Man after Peter Parker's death. A sequel is currently in the works.

What's your favourite Spider-Man film? And will you miss seeing Tom Holland playing the hero in the MCU? Let us know in the comments!