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Why you’ll never see Spider-Man in a live-action Marvel show

Published Feb 24th, 2025 3:45PM EST
Three Spider-Men in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Image: Sony Pictures

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If you were holding out hope for a Tom Holland cameo in Daredevil: Born Again, we have some bad news for you. In a recent interview with Phase Hero’s Brandon Davis on YouTube, Marvel’s head of streaming, TV, and animation, Brad Winderbaum, noted that Sony’s still in control when it comes to Spider-Man showing up in live-action.

Here’s what Winderbaum said when asked about whether or not Spider-Man could appear in a live-action Disney+ TV show: “You know, I’m not sure exactly what the rules are, but I think they have long-form television rights. We can do 30-minute animation.”

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as it’s not exactly news, but it is confirmation from a top Marvel executive that Sony seemingly has no interest in allowing Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to pop up in any Disney+ shows. It looks like we’ll be waiting until at least Avengers: Doomsday in May 2026 for the MCU’s main Peter Parker to return.

That said, just because he won’t appear on screen doesn’t mean he’s stopped being a hero.

In an interview with Daredevil: Born Again stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio on Sunday, Jake Hamilton of Jake’s Takes revealed that Wilson Fisk (aka Kingpin) “makes a brief reference to a kid dressed like a spider in the second episode.”

Daredevil: Born Again doesn’t premiere on Disney+ until March 4th, but some members of the press have already gotten an early sneak peek. We now know that Spider-Man is still swinging around New York City, causing problems for criminals despite the fact that no one remembers who Peter Parker is following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Personally, I think that’s a reasonable compromise. Marvel just released the well-received Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man last month, and we have no doubt that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will play a major role in Doomsday and Secret Wars. Plus, Spider-Man 4 is set for 2026, so we’ll get plenty of live-action Spider-Man soon enough.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.