Spider-Man: No Way Home was a live-action Spider-Man film like no other, as it brought us three different Spidey variants in the same movie. Both of Sony’s live-action Spider-Man variants showed up, and I’m focusing on the live-action aspect of it because the Spider-Verse adaptation was the first to throw multiple Spider-Men at us at once.
But No Way Home came out two years ago, and we’re ready to move on to the next story involving Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. A story that we know is happening, as both Marvel and Sony confirmed as much while No Way Home was in theaters in late 2021.
Two years later, we still have no idea when Spider-Man 4 will hit cinemas, and Sony isn’t necessarily in a hurry to reveal it. The strikes in the industry helped delay various movies, and Spider-Man 4 is undoubtedly one of them. Neither is Marvel at this point, considering the MCU needs fixing. Delivering a great Spider-Man 4 story might be part of that.
With that in mind, we do have a series of exciting Spider-Man 4 plot rumors from various leakers. It all started with a detail about a surprising Avengers cameo for Spider-Man 4 a few days ago. And if what these insiders are hearing is correct, the next sequel might be even more exciting than No Way Home, at least for me. Mind you, some big spoilers might follow below.
No Way Home sets the stage for a different Spider-Man
I’m not the biggest Spider-Man fan out there, and I loved that the MCU didn’t need one of Marvel’s best-known superheroes to grow as it did during Phases 1 through 3. Tom Holland’s Spidey appeared much later, debuting via Captain America: Civil War. By that time, the Avengers were already popular without Spider-Man.
After Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield helped Sony essentially tell the same Spider-Man story, I wasn’t excited about seeing the same thing with Tom Holland’s variant in the MCU.
Thankfully, we didn’t get an identical experience. The MCU Spidey gave us a superhero that was very close to the Avengers, thanks to Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). It was also an overpowered Spidey, thanks to that Stark tech that made it into his suit.
Also, the No Way Home conclusion of Tom Holland’s first Spidey MCU trilogy was a story that Sony couldn’t offer fans before. Well, neither did Marvel. We needed two decades of Spider-Man reboots and Marvel’s massive MCU success to get to this multiverse of stories.
There’s no denying that bringing Maguire and Garfield back helped boost the box office results. No Way Home probably would have topped $2 billion at the box office if it weren’t for the pandemic rather than stopping short of it.
No Way Home also helped Sony and Marvel do something else that’s worth remembering. The movie stripped Peter Parker of everything he had. The world forgot who he is, which is also a first for Spider-Man movies. He has no friends, with MJ (Zendaya) forgetting who he is. He lost Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and the Stark tech. All that while finishing high school.
This already gives us a great setup for Spider-Man 4, where we might see an older, more mature Spider-Man. And that’s exciting, particularly in the grander scheme of things. This Spider-Man will be part of the big Avengers team that will fight Kang in Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
The Spider-Man 4 plot rumors
A report last week said that Spider-Man 4 will feature two big Marvel characters. One is Daredevil (Charlie Cox), who will supposedly get a big role in the movie. The other is Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), which should keep the Avengers tradition going. All of the Spider-Man movies in the MCU have had at least one big Avengers cameo.
Previous rumors said that Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) would be one of the big villains of Spider-Man 4. That’s why Daredevil is also in the movie, with the Spider-Man sequel tying into Marvel’s upcoming Daredevil Disney Plus TV show.
Marvel Insider Alex Perez reiterated that Spider-Man 4 plot detail. Kingpin will supposedly become the mayor of New York. As such, he will implement legislation against vigilantism, which is an interesting concept considering where we are in the MCU. Remember that the Avengers are immensely popular in New York after Endgame.
As a reminder, Matt Murdock told us in She-Hulk that the Sokovia Accords are no longer in place after Infinity War and Endgame. Not that we expected them to be, but that’s now an official development.
That said, Kingpin’s law will attract the attention of villains who want to take a shot at Spider-Man and other superheroes in New York. The Daredevil-Spider-Man partnership makes all the more sense.
Spider-Man 4 might have Civil War vibes
But it’s not just the two of them facing villains in Spider-Man 4. Apparently, the sequel will have Captain America: Civil War vibes, according to a different leaker.
Per Cryptic HD QUALITY, we’re looking at a “street level” civil war where major Avengers will play minor roles.
In a separate tweet, the same leaker mentioned other potentially exciting cameos for Spider-Man 4. The list includes Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), and Echo (Alaqua Cox). There may be others which were not mentioned here.
I’ll remind you that Echo, the TV show, will debut in full on Disney Plus in just a few weeks. It’ll tell us the story of Echo, including events following Hawkeye, which also introduced the MCU’s Kingpin.
As for Bishop, we already saw her at the end of The Marvels. Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) is trying to form her own team of young Avengers, and she’s starting with Kate. Spider-Man has to be part of all of that.
Back to Cryptic HD QUALITY, the leaker said that Peter is already a leaker in Spider-Man 4. Peter will be “essential” to the MCU’s future, the leaker added, which is exactly what I expect.
With all that in mind, I’m more excited about Spider-Man 4 than No Way Home, though the events in the latter will make the events in Spider-Man 4 possible. But these are all rumors. Even if they’re accurate, a lot can change by the time Spider-Man 4 hits theaters.
