Ever since Marvel Studios and Sony cut a deal to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), fans have pretty much concluded that we wouldn’t be introduced to the character until “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. However, now it seems the stage will be set a bit earlier in July’s “Ant-Man.”

When Marvel and Sony revealed they’d be bringing Peter Parker into the MCU, they immediately alleviated fan fears that they’d have to sit through a third origin story in a little more than a decade. In order to skip all that, the announcement revealed that the character will have a cameo in a different MCU film before getting his own movie in 2017. Given Spidey's importance in the "Civil War" comic series, many believed they'd have to wait until 2016 to see Peter Parker's introduction. However, according to a new report from Latino Review, the character will first be established in the MCU through subtle references in "Ant-Man."

The alleged rumor states that the film will see villain Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) try to sell the Ant-Man/Yellowjacket technology to a number of evil organizations including “The Ten Rings, from the “Iron Man” movies, the Roxxon corporation that’s been referenced in several of Marvel’s TV properties, and now OsCorp. Although the web-head himself won’t show up in the movie, as he’s yet to be cast, this is allegedly how Marvel Studios will lay the groundwork for his appearance in “Civil War.” While this doesn’t exactly spoil anything in “Ant-Man,” it does help establish a timeline for the wall-crawler in the MCU. If the rumors are true, when “Ant-Man” hits theaters, Peter Parker will already be operating as New York City’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

It’s worth mentioning that the outlet only cites an “unconfirmed rumor” as evidence that Spider-Man will be mentioned in the upcoming movie. As a result, all of this information needs to be taken with a grain of salt. As CinemaBlend points out, although the cast was brought in last month for some reshoots to the movie, the timeline for both the negotiations between Marvel and Sony as well as the principal photography filming on “Ant-Man” simply doesn’t add up. In short, the minds behind “Ant-Man” couldn’t have worried about including Spider-Man in the film because they didn’t realize they’d have the rights by the time it came out.

As for Spider-Man’s standalone movie, rumors indicate that it will be titled “The New Avenger” and will feature Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) training Spider-Man to be a full-fledged Avenger. After all, if the ending to “Avengers: Age of Ultron” taught us anything, it’s that the team is officially recruiting new members. According to Deadline, Ted Melfi and Jonathan Levine are the current front-runners to direct.

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