The Spider-Man: No Way Home release is closing in, marking the end of the first Spider-Man trilogy in the MCU. Tom Holland will share the screen with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, but there’s no denying that he’s the most successful Spider-Man so far. The Spider-Man movies are a lot more exciting now that Peter Parker gets to interact with the Avengers, which wasn’t possible in Sony’s standalone Spider-Man films featuring Maguire and Garfield.
No Way Home isn’t just the end of the first Spider-Man MCU trilogy. The movie also marks the end of Holland’s contract playing Peter Parker. That’s enough to worry plenty of fans when it comes to Spider-Man’s existence in the MCU. But a new report says that not only will Holland helm the next trilogy, but that Sony and Marvel will continue to work hand in hand.
Spider-Man’s identity crisis
Sony holding the rights for Spider-Man means the studio has to make a new movie every few years. This explains why Sony recast the role after plans for Maguire’s Spider-Man 4 fell through. Andrew Garfield stepped in to helm a new franchise. But Sony shut that project down after the second Amazing Spider-Man installment. By that time, Sony had bigger plans in mind. It partnered with Marvel to bring Spider-Man to the MCU. And it recast the role again.
Tom Holland easily delivered the most exciting Spider-Man so far. Having the superhero in the MCU made the franchise more exciting than anything Sony ever did on its own.
It’s safe to assume that Sony and Marvel will not want to part ways anytime soon when it comes to Spider-Man movies. Also, we expect the superhero to appear in other Avengers crossovers in the future. After all, Kevin Feige just confirmed that Spider-Man is going to stay in the MCU. But that’s not enough to confirm that Holland will keep playing him.
The Spider-verse is getting bigger
Holland already mentioned in interviews that No Way Home feels like the end of a franchise. And he noted that he has no idea what’s going to happen in the future when it comes to him playing Spider-Man. The actor’s latest such remark came via Empire magazine’s exclusive No Way Home coverage:
‘One more day’s work on No Way Home, which will be a bittersweet day,’ he says. Bittersweet? How so surely this can’t be his last day as Peter Parker? ‘I honestly don’t know. It’s the first time since got cast as Spider-Man that I don’t have a contract. And it’s… it’s just really difficult for me to talk about because there are so many things I’d love to talk about that would help me embellish what I’m trying to explain. But can’t, because it would just ruin the film.’
No Way Home
might be the first live-action Spider-verse movie, but it might not be the last. And Sony might want to release stories featuring other Spider-Man-or-Woman variations soon. One of them is Miles Morales, whose arrival is highly anticipated. It’s unclear whether Sony wants to make other Spider-Man movies outside of the MCU. But Sony does have its own SSU, where it can have other Spider-Man variations.
Tom Holland’s new contract
According to Small Screen, the studios and Holland are already negotiating on a new contract. Things seem to be complicated, but not because Holland doesn’t want to play Peter Parker. It’s that he wants other roles aside from the friendly neighborhood superhero.
“The issue is that Tom loves playing the character, but he also doesn’t want to end up getting typecast,” a source told Small Screen. “He wants to do other projects aside from Spider-Man and the MCU. That’s one of the reasons why he ended up getting the Uncharted gig.”
The source went on to say that Holland wasn’t necessarily the “the director’s and Naughty Dog’s choice for the role.” But Uncharted is also a Sony movie.
Sony and Marvel have different Spider-Man plans
Holland’s wishes aside, it looks like Sony and Marvel have different plans for the superhero. While they’re not likely to split again, they have different approaches for the character.
“Sony basically wants to put Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in every single Spider-Verse property they can,” the source said. “They want to milk it, but Marvel Studios is much more cautious.”
The source said Marvel wants “Tom Holland in the MCU. They basically want him to be a young Tony Stark and lead a group of younger heroes.”
If true, this tidbit is massive. It’s also not surprising. Marvel is already setting up the Young Avengers, and Peter Parker would certainly fit with that group. Well, once the Avengers recruit Peter Parker again. Why again? Because they won’t know who he is after No Way Home.
The source indicated that Holland will keep playing Spider-Man in the MCU, “they just need to work out all the logistics first before anyone puts pen to paper.” Importantly, “money is no object for Marvel and Sony, so it’s NOT a money thing.”
That said, Spider-Man: No Way Home premieres on December 17th. But we have no idea when Sony and Marvel will announce the new Holland deal.
