To date, there’s only one Multiverse Saga movie that has managed to come close to the magnificence of the Infinity Saga, and that’s an inarguable fact. Spider-Man: No Way Home stands as the sole post-2020 Marvel release to cross $1 billion at the box office. So it’s no wonder hype for Spider-Man 4 is sky-high.
Although Sony has been teasing another outing for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker ever since, the (Spider-)man himself and Marvel Studios have seemingly been keen to let the project simmer for a bit. After all, in many ways, No Way Home was the definitive Spidey movie, serving as a celebration of the evolution of the entire Spider-Man brand since 2003. It’s going to be tough to measure up to the high standard Jon Watts’ threequel set.
Given that, it’s no surprise that reports say there’s a chance the movie could end up being No Way Home 2.0., with another multiversal team-up potentially occurring. On paper, that sounds like a smart move, but in actuality, it could end up running the Spider-Man franchise into the ground.
Sony rumored to want Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back for Spider-Man 4
According to rumored intel doing the rounds, which sprung from insider Daniel Richtman, Sony is considering bringing back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield opposite Tom Holland once again for Spider-Man 4, in the hopes of matching the scale and scope of No Way Home. It sounds like there may be some creative clash happening behind the scenes, however, as Kevin Feige and Holland himself are apparently keen to keep the film more grounded and free of multiversal elements.
To date, there’s nothing official pointing to either Maguire and Garfield making further Marvel returns, although fans have long assumed they could cameo in Avengers: Secret Wars. When it comes to Spider-Man 4, though, Holland certainly has made no secret of the fact that he’ll only sign on to do another one if it honors the character and can tell a meaningful story. So this would align with this rumored information. Similarly, Kevin Feige’s newfound Marvel Spotlight banner for street-level heroes could indicate he’d want Spidey to stay on this side of the fence from now on.
There could be nothing in this, then, but just in case this is something that Sony is pushing for, I just want to put something out there. Bringing Peters 2 and 3 back for Spider-Man 4 would be an awful decision. Please, if you care about this franchise at all, don’t do it.
Kevin Feige and Tom Holland are allegedly right, let Spider-Man 4 be its own thing
To misquote Norman Osborn, I’m something of a No Way Home fan myself, and yet the idea of Spidey 4 repeating its predecessor’s USP leaves me more creeped out than watching Bully Maguire dancing down the street.
As the final entry in a trilogy — that was itself the final entry in a trilogy of different Spider-Man trilogies, no less — No Way Home was the perfect excuse to bring all three Spideys back together. Even better, it managed to center around Earth-616’s Peter and tell a moving, heartbreaking story that changed his life forever. Sure, fans can complain about Doctor Strange’s dopey spell or a couple of duff jokes, but we are genuinely lucky this film turned out as, well, amazing as it did.
So let’s not tempt fate, huh? Bringing the trio back together for another go around would invariably be met by lesser excitement, less of a thrill, less of an ear-splitting cheer in theaters when they pop through the portals again. As the MCU is finding across the board right now, what with Quantumania and The Marvels underperforming, maybe audiences don’t actually want the same thing fed to them over and over.
Whether Kevin Feige and Holland are actually taking this stance or not, the notion of keeping Spider-Man 4 grounded is absolutely the right call. With nobody in the world knowing who he is and his secret identity back in the box, the next film has the perfect opportunity to deliver the authentic, traditional, back-to-basics Spidey movie fans have been craving ever since the wallcrawler joined the MCU. Let’s have him be that friendly neighborhood Spider-Man again. Let’s have him team up with Daredevil and fight Kingpin, sure — I’m not saying no to all crossovers — but don’t waste the wonderful chance to make a new definitive Spider-Man movie. One which defines who Peter Parker is as a lone superhero in a world full of them and why that makes him so special.
The presence of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in No Way Home was like a drop of precious tritium in Otto Octavius’ fusion experiment. Bringing them back for Spider-Man 4 would only be one drop too many and threaten to blow it all up. Sony really should’ve learned from Doctor Octopus by now; too many interfering hands is always a bad thing.
