Spider-Man: No Way Home will be swinging into theaters on December 17, but what the future holds for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man isn’t as crystal clear as it was before the hiccups between Sony Pictures and Disney/Marvel. At one point, an extension was nixed and Sony almost moved forward without the help of Marvel Studios.
Tom Holland was able to get the two studios back to the table and the third Spider-Man film was shot, thankfully still takes place within the MCU.
During a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tom Holland gives the impression that the end of the trilogy with Spider-Man: No Way Home, could ultimately be the end of the ride if new deals aren’t made.
“We were all treating [No Way Home] as the end of a franchise, let’s say. I think if we were lucky enough to dive into these characters again, you’d be seeing a very different version. It would no longer be the Homecoming trilogy. We would give it some time and try to build something different and tonally change the films. Whether that happens or not, I don’t know. But we were definitely treating [No Way Home] like it was coming to an end, and it felt like it.”
While there has been plenty of online fan speculation concerning the future of Spider-Man, Holland is currently without an official contract (despite an openness to return) as the actor said he completed it shooting No Way Home. Spider-Man 4 hasn’t been announced by either Sony Pictures or Marvel, alongside any future extension on their co-production deal.
Director Jon Watts is making a movie for Apple Studios that stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, seemingly before he helps Disney/Marvel reboot the Fantastic Four (reportedly doesn’t have a script) for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This doesn’t leave much room for a return to tackle Spider-Man 4 anytime soon, Sony likely won’t wait too long before moving along with the solo films with or without Marvel/Watts.
Fans have simply assumed that Spider-Man: No Way Home will further connect the Sony Spider-Man Universe films to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, if Marvel parts ways with Sony that really doesn’t make much sense given Kevin Feige’s longstanding aversion to other people (even within the Marvel offices) tinkering with his cinematic space without his oversight.
What Sony does with their characters post-Marvel Studios is pretty much anyone’s guess with multiple solo movies on the horizon such as Jared Leto’s Morbius, Tom Hardy’s Venom 3, J.C. Chandor’s Kraven The Hunter led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Olivia Wilde’s untitled but assumed to be Spider-Woman movie.
One plausible scenario that was mentioned when Disney and Sony first walked away from a co-production extension, that Marvel/Sony would partner on Spider-Man 3, giving some finality to the MCU trilogy and then essentially let Sony do what they want with their characters. The Multiverse could easily place Holland’s Spider-Man outside of the main-canon Marvel Cinematic Universe allowing Sony to continue to use those actors, including Tom Holland finally being able to show up in Venom 3 or other spinoffs.
Tackling a version of the Sinister Six and pairing Peter Parker with Doctor Strange certainly feels like bucket list things for Marvel to do before saying goodbye to the character.
Until there is a real announcement of a further extension, we can’t really get too comfortable with the idea future Spider-Man movies will always take place within the Marvel’s established universe. Because Sony was already willing to chug along without them before, I don’t see how that changes if a deal isn’t reached.
SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
THE RONIN 