by Pierre Lorenz on January 8, 2022

In today's Original, we will once again talk about a MCU or rather Sony movie. More precisely, we are referring to the upcoming "Spider-Man 4" with Tom Holland. Almost one month after the movie's release, we would like to introduce you to the most important information and assumptions about the events after "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and discuss the most common theories about the story. For all of you who have not seen "No Way Home" yet, there is of course an imminent risk of spoilers. Otherwise, we hope you enjoy our latest Original!

Production

Let's talk about the production first. For many fans it came as a surprise when shortly after the release of "No Way Home", Marvel boss Kevin Feige and producer Amy Pascal announced that a new trilogy with Tom Holland was being planned. In the summer of 2019, this still appeared to be completely out of the question, since the entire future of Tom Holland's Spider-Man was at stake at the time and no one knew what would happen next until the final agreement between Marvel and Sony. So it's all the more pleasing that the popular film series is now to be expanded with several sequels. According to Feige, they are currently in an early phase of production, in which Disney and Sony are thinking about the future storyline. He explicitly stated that they wanted to prevent a farewell drama like the one in 2019 at all costs.

Lead actor Tom Holland also commented on a new trilogy in the French TV show "Quotidien", albeit he answered the host's question rather diplomatically. He stated that there were some very exciting things to be discussed, but that he didn't know exactly what, and that the outcome of these talks had to be awaited. As you can see, the responsible parties are not really far advanced yet and you will have to be patient in the coming months regarding news about the story.

The End of "No Way Home"

Next, let's shed some light on the story and especially the ending of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to then form possible theories from it. After "Homecoming" and "Far From Home", "No Way Home" is the third "Spider-Man" movie with Tom Holland. The plot follows on directly from its forerunner and presents the superhero and his entire entourage with a major challenge, as Mysterio uncovered Spider-Man's identity at the end of the second part and disclosed it to the world. Peter Parker, who is actually concerned about his anonymity, cannot cope at all with the unexpected fame. He is particularly burdened by the disadvantages that his friends and family suffer because of him and so he decides to ask his co-avenger Doctor Strange for advice. After a failed spell, the world is even more upside down than before, because now several universes have emerged, which, in addition to all the villains of the Spidey films from the 2000s and 2010s, also brings the respective Spider-Men of Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield together. During the epic finale, it becomes clear that Doctor Strange can no longer control the many rifts in the multiverse, which is why Peter makes the decision to cast a second spell. This time, really no one is supposed to remember Peter Parker, including Strange himself and, of course, Spidey's family and friends. Unlike the beginning of the movie, Peter is now willing to sacrifice all of that to save the world from a collapse of the multiverse. In the end, we get to see Peter being accepted to the famous MIT and visiting his aunt's grave. Last but not least, the friendly neighborhood spider swings through the urban canyons of New York in a homemade suit and goes on another manhunt. In the mid-credit scene, Eddie Brock and his symbiote are seen sitting at a bar. They have been sent back to their original world by Strange's spell, though a small part of the symbiote remains on the counter.

Theories about "Spider-Man 4"

Let's now turn our attention to the theories about the upcoming "Spider-Man 4". First of all, it is not quite clear which direction the new trilogy will take, but it seems that all signs point to a new start. The whole world has forgotten that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, so for now Spidey is free to go on a manhunt undisturbed and come to terms with what has happened. Especially the loss of his Aunt May was very traumatic for him. In addition, he must cope with the fact that his friends do not recognize him anymore. When he finally visits MJ and Ned at the end of "No Way Home" and sees how wonderful and peaceful their lives are without him, he decides not to reveal his identity.

However, we cannot imagine that the story of Peter Parker will be completely revisited. Instead, we will probably see a torn Spider-Man, who has to consider every time anew how to deal with the situation. On the one hand, he may be the righteous superhero, but on the other hand, Peter Parker is still a human being, and he definitely wants his longtime friend Ned and his girlfriend MJ back.

1) Ned Becomes the Villain

First, let's begin with a very gloomy theory, but one that is not entirely implausible. In one scene, Ned asks Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man whether he also has a best friend, to which he replies that his best friend Harry turned into a villain and ended up dying in his arms. What might have provided fans of the first "Spider-Man" trilogy with a few harmless laughs could, on closer inspection, actually be a hint at the new trilogy. True, Ned does later emphatically tell Peter that he will never turn evil. However, even if that doesn't really fit into a "Spider-Man 4", we could still be in for a surprise in Part 5 or 6. Another clue to this is the plot in the comics. There, Ned was originally a co-worker of Peter's at the Daily Bugle and is later manipulated by a villain named Hobgoblin into eventually sacrificing himself for him. So, figuratively speaking, Ned dies just as Harry did in the arms of his best friend. In spite of some clues to this fate, we cannot quite believe that the popular supporting character would undergo such a change, all the more so since he is Peter's best friend and not his work colleague as in the comics.

2) Spider-Man 4: Into the Spider-Verse?

Many fans have been expecting Miles Morales to appear in some form alongside Peter Parker for a long time. The two Sony video games about the respective superheroes have already shown that this works wonderfully, and the duo would certainly look great on the big screen as well. For many, the appearance of a live action Miles is the next logical step, after all, the multiverse is already being further expanded with "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness". Finally, Peter could hand over the reins to Miles in Part 5 or 6 and entrust his protégé with the day-to-day business in New York City. An indicator for this could be a statement of Tom Holland from last November. At the time, he said he would be doing something wrong if he was still playing the role of Spider-Man at the age of 30. He would be depriving a younger successor of the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. He also did not rule out a female character either. However, a continuation of the story by Miles is much more likely, because it is completely unclear what will happen to him after "Spider-Man: A New Universe 2".

3) Spider-Man vs. Venom

Of course it is not quite clear yet who will be the main villain of "Spider-Man 4", but we already have an idea. As already mentioned, we see Eddie Brock sitting at a bar at the end of "No Way Home" leaving a small part of his symbiote behind. Many fans were very excited about this scene, after all, a reunion of Spidey and Venom like in "Spider-Man 3" with Tobey Maguire is the great dream of moviegoers. Interestingly, artist Thomas du Crest recently published a couple of concept images of Tom Holland in a symbiote suit on Twitter. The concept artist clarified that this was not planned for "No Way Home", but it could be an approach for "Spider-Man 4". For this to be realistic, the symbiote would have to somehow find its way to New York City to its new host. In fact, we assume that Venom and Spider-Man will meet soon. But whether that will already be the case in "Spider-Man 4" is still up in the air.

4) Is Spider-Man About to Meet the Iron Man Successor?

Our final theory concerns Peter's academic future. He could be accepted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT for short, just like MJ and Ned. This storyline would involve a change of location, because the world-famous university is not located in New York, but in Boston, almost 350km away. The MIT is so interesting because another upcoming MCU heroine also studies there, namely Ironheart, who in turn is the dedicated successor of Iron Man, who died in "Avengers: Endgame". Not only could a rather complicated friendship develop between the two due to Peter's emotional connection to his mentor Tony Stark, but an appearance by Ironheart would also fit wonderfully into the MCU time-wise. The character of Riri Williams, as the superheroine's real name is, is getting her own series on Disney+ anyway, and who knows, maybe the plot of the series will fit in beautifully with an upcoming "Spider-Man 4".