Credit: Sony, Marvel StudiosThe Multiverse is getting a whole lot bigger!
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has undergone many changes over the years, losing and gaining actors and characters as the times change and the threats faced grow ever more dangerous. The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of Marvel Studios has led to movie-going phenomena with thousands heading to the cinema to experience cultural events like Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) live, when Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man/Tony Stark and Chris Evans’ Captain America/Steve Rogers said their goodbyes.
Meanwhile, Sony’s ownership of the Spider-Man name and brand has led to the stunningly popular Tom Holland iteration of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, after The Walt Disney Company-owned Marvel Studios struck their historic deal with Sony. But a new Sony Spider-Verse project might bring “lost” MCU favorites back into the spotlight, as the Multiverse of Spider-People grows ever larger!
After Endgame and its epic battle against Thanos (Josh Brolin) concluded Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Multiverse Saga, the heroes of the universe are now contending with an even bigger Avengers-level threat — in Jonathan Majors’ terrifying Kang the Conqueror. But yet another casualty of the MCU so far that leaves the known Avengers team even more fractured is Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, whom we last encountered almost two years ago, in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. But it seems all might not be over the for web-slinging Spidey many have grown to love.
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Spider-Man: No Way Home ended with Holland’s Peter Parker encountering a bit of a “reset” with regards to his status as a superhero. After saying goodbye to Multiversal variants of Peter Parker, namely the beloved Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire variants, Holland’s Peter retreats away from friends and family after Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) spell takes hold and wipes everyone’s memory of him. This also marked the beginning of Holland’s hiatus as Spidey — but this upcoming Sony Spider-Verse project has been rumored to bring Holland back into the red-and-blue suit.
What is the new Spider-Verse project, and how could Tom Holland be involved as Spider-Man?
Now, the upcoming sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is slated to hit theaters in June 2023, and the Multiversal nature of Sony Animation Picture’s 2D-3D hybrid film promises to pack an even bigger punch. It also hopes to expand the “Spider-Man Multiverse”, here termed the “Spider-Verse”, with new players and Spider-People joining the fray. There are several major similarities to Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the expansion into Multiversal territories and dealing with cross-universal threats is a shared conundrum both Tom Holland and Shameik Moore’s Spider-Men have to face.
Across the Spider-Verse stars Shameik Moore as Miles Morales/Spider-Man, whose universe’s version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Chris Pine) perished at the hands of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) in the first film. While uncovering a conspiracy involving his uncle Aaron Davis as the villainous Prowler (Mahershala Ali), he teams up with Multiversal variant Spider-People, including Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (played by Hailee Steinfeld, AKA Kate Bishop in the MCU as well), and Jake Johnson’s Peter B. Parker. They are set to return in Across the Spider-Verse, alongside Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart “Hobie” Brown/Spider-Punk, Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ohnn/the Spot, and Brian Tyree Henry and Jefferson Davis and Rio Morales, Miles’ father and mother, respectively.
It was only recently that The Direct reported on a troubled production for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as an episode of the podcast The Town with Matthew Belloni shared some behind-the-scenes information. On the show, Belloni indicated that the new Spider-Man entry proved much more expensive compared to its predecessor, due to re-writes. This tells us that the sequel would have exceeded the initial film’s $90 million production cost. Apparently, there were “a bunch of problems” on this film which led to the team “scrapp[ing] a bunch of stuff”, adding that directors and creators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also “write as they go”. This indicates that the two delays that the new Spider-Verse entry endured (being initially slated for April 2022) was because of major shifts in the story and characters portrayed — which lines up timeline-wise with the rumors surrounding Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home stars (and past/present Spider-Men), Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, and Tom Holland making a potentially surprise appearance in the film.
It’s not unlikely that re-writes this major, to delay the production more than a year, came from a need to shuffle in additional characters — and Spider-Men. Could we see another mind-bending Multiversal romp bringing beloved characters together in unprecedented ways? Will we be getting a secret Sony and Marvel Studios collab, once again? Questions abound. But until more is revealed, we’re just going to have to tune in to find out on the next Spider-Man adventure in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Do you think Tom Holland might show up in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Share your thoughts in the comments below!