Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Spider-Man 4 might be a massive multiverse movie where Sony and Marvel will try to recreate the magic of No Way Home to sell as many tickets as possible. Nobody would blame them either if they pulled it off. No Way Home made nearly $2 billion at the box office, a figure that’s usually reserved for big Avengers crossovers.
The newest rumors on the matter, coming from two regular Marvel leakers, tease a few crazy cameos that make Spider-Man 4 sound like an Avengers film. You know, kind of like Captain America: Civil War is practically this big Avengers adventure. If the leaks pan out, Spider-Man 4 might rival Doomsday in scope, or the first of the two Avengers films that will conclude the Multiverse Saga.
Doomsday should be similar to Infinity War. The Avengers will likely lose to Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) rather than Thanos (Josh Brolin). Secret Wars will be this saga’s massive conclusion, similar to how Endgame concluded the Infinity Saga.
While I think repeating the No Way Home multiverse trick isn’t the best idea for Spider-Man 4, given how the last film concluded, I’m also fascinated by the potential scope of the movie if these leaks pan out. Because we have to remember where we are in the Multiverse Saga right now and how Spider-Man 4 relates to Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Massive spoilers will follow below if these leaks are accurate. You’ll want to avoid them at all costs if you love surprises.
What is the plan for Spider-Man?
Before we look at the newest rumors, I’ll remind you that recent leaks claim Sony and Marvel will start shooting Spider-Man 4 in May 2025. Tom Holland will reprise his Peter Parker role and supposedly swing between the Spider-Man 4 and Doomsday productions.
The same leaks say the MCU’s main Spider-Man will have major roles in Doomsday and Secret Wars. Sony and Marvel reportedly inked a new deal to cover another Spidey trilogy for the MCU and several other Spider-Man appearances, including the Avengers adventures.
Finally, Spider-Man 4 should premiere at some point in the summer of 2026, a few months after Doomsday, but well before Secret Wars. The Avengers movies both have May release dates, but they’re one year apart.
The Doomsday connection
Spider-Man was one of the first things I thought about when Marvel confirmed that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU to play a Doctor Doom variant that resembles Iron Man. How would Spidey handle seeing someone looking like Tony Stark come after the Avengers? This should be a highly emotional moment, considering what Peter has been through in Endgame and No Way Home.
Considering one of the newest Spider-Man 4 leaks, we should get plenty of Peter and Doctor Doom interaction. Prominent MCU leaker MyTimeToShineHella said on X that RDJ’s Doctor Doom will have a role in Spider-Man 4.
That sounds incredible already, and it’s why I said I find these Spider-Man 4 cameo rumors fascinating. There’s no denying that I want to see this dynamic unfold. But I also worry about having this type of interaction in Spider-Man 4 rather than Doomsday.
Then again, if Sony and Marvel want to have Spider-Man 4 in theaters in the summer of 2026, soon after Doomsday, such a cameo might make sense. Remember that recent rumors also said a different multiversal threat would appear in Spider-Man 4.
Venom and Knull
The past few weeks gave us reasons to believe that the big Venom 3 villain might pop up in Spider-Man 4. Knull, supposedly played by Andy Serkis, will be hunting down his symbiotes, including the Venom (Tom Hardy) part that stayed in the MCU after the No Way Home events.
If those rumors are accurate, Spider-Man 4 will be a multiverse movie rather than a street-level adventure. Knull should invade the main MCU reality, as he’s tracking down this Venom variant. This is just speculation, but it brings to a different leaker’s new Spider-Man 4 claims.
Answering questions on Discord, Marvel leaker Alex Perez handled several Spider-Man 4 questions. He said that at this point in pre-production, Spider-Man 4 is “more and more multiversal than street-level.”
“At this point, I dare say it’s leaning slightly cosmic than street. These things, especially with pre-production, shift so much, so I try to update them as best I can on the fly as they happen. I know it’s annoying for many of you, but let’s wait until later on to get more solid confirmation,” Perez continued.
The scooper did say that Tom will get the symbiote suit in the next few years, and might keep it for the next couple of Spider-Man films. The implication is that it starts with Spider-Man 4.
Frankly, as much as I want to see the MCU’s Spidey deal with the fallout of No Way Home and engage in a more down-to-earth Spider-Man adventure where he’s wearing the suit he created, I’ll say again that having Knull attack the MCU’s main reality makes more sense now, in the middle of the Multiverse Saga, than later down the road when the multiverse might not matter that much.
Perez also said other symbiotes would act as villains in Spider-Man 4.
What about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield?
When you hear that Spider-Man 4 might be a multiverse movie like No Way Home, you’ll surely think of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as Spider-Man variants. That’s what older rumors said Sony wanted for Spider-Man 4.
I said at the time it would be an ill-advised idea, as it might challenge common sense. Also, Sony would be reusing the same trick, which is rather lazy and cheap. It would also happen before Secret Wars when the two Spider-Man should also show up.
But Perez now says the two actors should have cameos in Spider-Man 4:
As for Tobey and Andrew…I heard that there is a very strong possibility they show up for an extended role this time around, given the setting of the Multiverse Saga.
Yes, it makes sense. I have to agree with that one. But again, it’s doing the same thing as No Way Home, and that’s not great.
If all these pans out, Spider-Man 4 will feature Tom, Tobey, and Andrew as Spider-Men, with Venom, Knull, and Doctor Doom as villains. Well, one would hope Venom would also be an ally to Tom’s Peter. Spider-Man 4 would surely rival Doomsday when it comes to multiversal stakes and public attention, even though Doomsday should feature a larger Avengers team and bigger multiverse threats.
