According to a new MCU theory, Spider-Man 4 could repeat Spider-Man: No Way Home"s villain storyline but with a twist, pitting Tom Holland"s Peter Parker against a brand-new multiversal threat. 2021"s Spider-Man: No Way Home marked the end of the "Home Trilogy," exploring Peter Parker"s biggest adventure yet, as he teamed up with his own variants to battle villains from across the multiverse. While No Way Home set up a back-to-basics story for the MCU"s upcoming Spider-Man 4, it also gave Peter Parker the opportunity to continue to investigate the multiverse.
Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed the development of a new Spider-Man movie shortly after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. In September 2024, Destin Daniel Cretton was confirmed as Spider-Man 4"s director, and it was expected the movie would begin filming in 2025, with Tom Holland reprising the titular role. There has been some dispute, however, regarding whether Spider-Man 4 should be a street-level story, as No Way Home set up, or continue to explore the multiverse, but a new theory suggests it could do both simultaneously.
Related Mark My Words, Spider-Man 4's Action Scenes Are Going To Be Some Of The Best In The MCU With a new director taking over for Tom Holland"s fourth Spider-Man movie, I"m certain that it will have some of the best action in the MCU.
4 Spider-Man: No Way Home May Have Set Up Spider-Man 4’s Perfect Story, But Not How You Think Doctor Strange's Spell Messed Up The Multiverse More Than No Way Home Revealed At first glance, Spider-Man: No Way Home seemed to set up future Spider-Man adventures in one very clear way. No Way Home ended with Doctor Strange"s spell wiping everyone"s memories of Peter Parker, which sent the multiversal variants and villains back to their respective universes, and left Tom Holland"s Peter Parker completely alone. Spider-Man 4 could very easily catch up with the now-anonymous Spider-Man dealing with low-stakes, street-level threats on the streets of New York City, but No Way Home also set up a much bigger story for the young wall-crawler.
Spider-Man Solo MCU Movie
Year
Director
Spider-Man: Homecoming
2017
Jon Watts
Spider-Man: Far From Home
2019
Jon Watts
Spider-Man: No Way Home
2021
Jon Watts
Spider-Man 4
TBD
Destin Daniel Cretton
This larger story wasn"t revealed in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but rather in projects developed for Sony"s Marvel franchises. 2022"s Morbius saw Doctor Strange"s spell somehow send Michael Keaton"s Adrian Toomes into the SSU, while the spell also caused anomalies to occur in 2023"s animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The idea of Doctor Strange"s spell sending random characters across the multiverse into different realities informs a major theory, which suggests Peter Parker could face a street-level threat in Spider-Man 4, but one brought from another universe.
Spider-Man Faces A New Multiversal Threat In Spider-Man 4: MCU Theory Explained A New Multiversal Villain May Have Joined The MCU After Spider-Man: No Way Home Close While a new theory posed by Comicodigy keeps Peter Parker in Earth-616 for his next adventure in Spider-Man 4, it pits the web-slinger against a new multiversal antagonist. In the same way that the Vulture was sent into Sony"s Spider-Man Universe, and Earth-616"s Prowler, portrayed by Donald Glover, was sent into the animated Spider-Verse franchise, a threat from another reality could have entered the MCU"s main continuity of 616. Marvel Studios hasn"t really explained Doctor Strange"s spell, so this is very possible.
There are suspicions that Spider-Man 4 will actually explain the full extent of Doctor Strange"s spell. Initially, it was thought the spell would only erase peoples" memories of Peter Parker, and it was said that this would somehow return the multiversal variants to their own realities. It seems as though this spell had some major adverse effects, including sending residents of Earth-616 into alternate realities inadvertently, so it stands to reason that it could have pulled more villains into the MCU. This would mean Spider-Man 4 repeats No Way Home"s story, to an extent, but this could be beneficial.
Why Repeating No Way Home’s Villain Story Makes Sense For Spider-Man 4 Spider-Man Battled Five Multiversal Villains In No Way Home Pitting Peter Parker against a villain from across the multiverse in Spider-Man 4 could seem like a simple rehashing of Spider-Man: No Way Home"s storyline. No Way Home saw Tom Holland"s Spider-Man fight familiar and beloved villains from Sony"s past Spider-Man franchises, but this means that Spider-Man 4 can set itself apart in one major way. The multiversal threat introduced in Spider-Man 4 could be a powerful villain from Marvel Comics who has never been seen in live-action before, bringing something completely new and unexpected into the MCU.
No Way Home Villain
Actor
Debut Movie
Norman Osborn"s Green Goblin
Willem Dafoe
Spider-Man (2002)
Otto Octavius" Doctor Octopus
Alfred Molina
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Flint Marko"s Sandman
Thomas Haden Church
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Curt Connors" Lizard
Rhys Ifans
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Max Dillon"s Electro
Jamie Foxx
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
This theory could be a huge benefit to Spider-Man 4, as the discussion has been rife about the project being either street-level or multiversal. Some have grown tired of the exploration of the multiverse in superhero movies, though this shows no sign of slowing, as the MCU"s Multiverse Saga is continuing to develop. This means it"s likely Spider-Man 4 will still deal with the multiverse, but introducing a multiversal villain into Peter Parker"s street-level story could keep the story personal, intimate and more poignant, on a smaller scale than Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Which Multiversal Villains Would Be Perfect For Spider-Man 4? Spider-Man Has Battled Many Multiversal Villains In Marvel Comics The most obvious and formidable candidate to oppose Tom Holland"s Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4, if the villain is from across the multiverse, is Morlun. Introduced to Marvel Comics in 2001, Morlun is a central adversary to many variants of Spider-Man, and is the primary antagonist of the comics" Spider-Verse event, playing a key role in the wall-crawler"s multiversal stories as he travels from reality to reality hunting Spider-People with the Inheritors. Morlun is one of Spider-Man"s most dangerous enemies, but has never had a live-action adaptation - Spider-Man 4 could change that.
Related 10 Marvel Villains Perfect For A Street-Level MCU Spider-Man 4 Movie No Way Home set up a personal, street-level story for Tom Holland"s Spider-Man 4, and some Marvel Comics villains would be great for the movie.
Sony"s animated Spider-Verse franchise has shown the sheer potential of Spider-Man villains across the multiverse. Any number of powerful variants could be seen in Spider-Man 4, perhaps even different versions of Spider-Man himself - Miguel O"Hara"s Spider-Man 2099 is a minor antagonist in the Spider-Verse movies, and it would be great to see him debut in live-action. By bringing a multiversal villain into the MCU in Spider-Man 4, Marvel Studios has the perfect chance to continue its development of the Multiverse Saga, while delivering a personal and grounded story for Peter Parker.
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Not Yet Rated SuperheroActionAdventure Spider-Man: Homecoming 4 is the first sequel to the MCU's Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland as the titular wall-crawler. After wiping his identity for the public's memory in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker continues his crime-fighting adventures without the aid of Iron Man technology or the support of his former allies.
Distributor(s) Sony Cast Tom Holland , Zendaya , Jacob Batalon Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe , Spider-Man prequel(s) Spider-Man: Homecoming , Spider-Man: Far From Home , Spider-Man: No Way Home Upcoming MCU Movies Captain America: Brave New World
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