User blog comment:Jacknapier10/Which characters cannot appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?/@comment-8284722-20140424164239/@comment-24901406-20140505092044

I certainly wasn't aware of it. I know Joe Quesada certainly has a reputation for thinking he knows more about the MCU than he really does but that's about it.

It does all add up though, especially considering Hugh Jackman claimed there was another deal going in reverse for Wolverine to pop up in Spider-Man (but apparently Fox lost his costume so they couldn't film it). Would make sense if the two deals were made at the same time (not to mention the attempted deal to get Oscorp Tower to pop up in The Avengers, the Doctor Strange name drop in Spider-Man 2 or the deleted reference to the X-Men in one of the early Spider-Man films). If there ever was a deal to be made Sony seem to always be at the heart of it.