The short answer to the question above is…maybe. Yesterday a rumor surfaced that AVENGERS 3 may not feature any of the superheroes from the first two Marvel movies. In a piece on the news, HitFix says Sony might have big plans for Spider-Man, and it involves Marvel's Cinematic Universe.
While I can't get the confirmations I need to verify the story, I'm hearing that there are some very cool "Spider-Man" plans being discussed that would help Sony refocus their enormously important franchise while also opening up some connections in the onscreen Marvel movie universe that would blow fandom's minds. Will it work out? I don't know. I would love to be able to state for sure that it's happening. What seems clear from what I've heard is that Marvel wants to be able to play with all of their characters, and if they can make that work creatively and on a corporate level, they will, and that means the world gets bigger again.
Marvel owns the merchandising rights to Spider-Man, so it's not like they want Sony's movies to fail, and I wouldn't be surprised if the two have had early talks about Spidey joining the MCU. I don't think Sony is quite ready to pull the plug on their future plans for the character, but reviews were very mixed for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, and many fans just don't seem to be that excited for the upcoming Sinister Six movie. Maybe by the time Marvel gets to AVENGERS 3, they'll have something worked out with Sony that will allow Spider-Man to appear in the film.
Although this could potentially be awesome, remember it is only a rumor at this point, and even if it is slightly true, it will likely be a while before we see Spider-Man in a Marvel movie.
What are your thoughts on Spider-Man possibly joining Marvel's Cinematic Universe, and do you think it will happen?