Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War co-director Joe Russo has said that he believes Sony is making a “tragic mistake” by ending its collaboration with Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios.

Talking to the Toronto Sun as part of a larger conversation about their upcoming new film Mosul, directors Anthony and Joe Russo answered questions regarding their work at Marvel. Joe Russo pointed out that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has been important to bringing Spider-Man’s new incarnation to the big screen, and that Sony is making a mistake ceasing its contract.

See what Marvel fans think of Spidey leaving the MCU in the video below.

"I will say, stepping back and trying to be objective as possible, that I think it’s a tragic mistake on Sony’s part to think that they can replicate Kevin’s penchant for telling incredible stories and the amazing success he has had over the years," said Joe Russo. "I think it’s a big mistake."

"It was so difficult to get him into Civil War," Anthony Russo said. "It was an extremely long and hard process. But we were driven to help make it happen. But Kevin Feige pulled it off, somehow. Disney and all the good people at Sony found a way to make it work and it lasted a few films. We had a wonderful experience with that and I think audiences really appreciated that marriage. But we know how hard that marriage was to make in the first place, so the fact that the marriage fell apart isn’t really that surprising to me and Joe."

Earlier this year it was revealed that Sony’s Spider-Man MCU deal had broken down, and that Peter Parker will no longer be able to star in Marvel Studios’ films. Instead, Sony will continue to make Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland, but they will not share elements with Marvel’s cinematic universe. The situation is due to Sony holding the film making rights to the Spider-Man collection of characters, rather than Marvel Studios. Sony have used the rights to create eight solo Spider-Man movies since 2002, covering four different Peter Parkers, two reboots, and one animated film.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.