<P> On July 2, 2013, Disney purchased the distribution rights to Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger from Paramount . In September 2014, TNT acquired the cable rights for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and three other films, to air on the network two years after their theatrical releases . The films had previously aired on FX since 2008 . </P> <P> In February 2015, it was announced that Disney and Sony Pictures will collaborate on the next Spider - Man films, the first of which, Spider - Man: Homecoming, was released on July 7, 2017 . Former Sony executive Amy Pascal will co-produce the films with Kevin Feige . The film rights to Spider - Man will still remain with Sony . Marvel Studios will also explore opportunities to integrate other characters of MCU into future Spider - Man films . </P> <P> In August 2015, Marvel Studios was placed into Walt Disney Studios, with Feige reporting directly to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter . Marvel Television and subsidiary company Marvel Animation were left under Marvel Entertainment and Perlmutter's control . Fast Company ranked Marvel Studios number eleven on its 2018 World's Most Innovative Companies list . </P> <P> Marvel had licensed out the film rights to many of their characters to other studios in the 1990s, starting with the X-Men to 20th Century Fox in 1993 . One of the first characters to see the rights returned to Marvel was Black Panther, which were returned to Marvel in 2005, having previously been at Columbia Pictures and Artisan Entertainment . In November 2005, Marvel gained the film rights to Iron Man from New Line Cinema . In April 2006, Thor's rights reverted to Marvel from Sony, and in June, the Black Widow rights reverted to Marvel from Lions Gate Entertainment . That same year, the film rights to Hulk reverted to Marvel Studios from Universal Studios, after the latter failed to enter production on a sequel to Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk film . Universal, however, retains the right of first refusal to distribute future Hulk films . </P>

Who owns the movie rights to marvel characters