What we all knew was a possibility is now a reality after Tom Holland officially announced that a Spider-Man 4 is in the works.
The British actor announced on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that the film is set to begin filming next Summer. “Everything’s good to go, we’re nearly there, super exciting… I can’t wait,” he tells Fallon as the host rightfully geeks out just as much as we would if we had just gotten that scoop.
With this information being fresh and a full script not completed, there seems to be more unknown than known at this point. Nonetheless, fans can rest easy knowing that July 26, 2025, we have a Spidey film coming to a theater near us. Holland’s character marks the first Spider-Man to extend past a trilogy (Andrew Garfield landed two flicks, while Tobey Maguire’s had three). Our imagination has been wandering with all the possibilities so let’s take a look at what we know so far and what we hope to see.
Who Will Be in Spider-Man 4?
Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are back to write the script as they helmed the same duties for the previous three films. Unfortunately, Jon Watts won’t be returning to direct, but we are still in good hands as the franchise will have Shang-Chi’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton, instead. While the only cast member we know for sure is set to return is Holland as Peter Parker, but it’s safe to assume that his real-life girlfriend, Zendaya, will reprise her role as Mary Jane as well.
The star told Fallon about the script, saying, “It really lit a fire in me. Zendaya and I sat down and read it together, and we, at times, were bouncing around the living room like, ‘This is a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect.’ But there’s a few things we need to figure out before we can get that really going, but it’s exciting.”
Now, it can’t fully be ruled out that Z was being a curious girlfriend and showed interest in what her boyfriend’s work looked like, but that’s highly unlikely. We’d venture to safely assume she will be back, but we can’t deny it would be quite interesting to see Gwen Stacy appear to shake things up. Let’s not forget that after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, no one knows who Parker is, giving the perfect opportunity for him to catch feelings for someone else if Mary Jane doesn’t fall back in love with him.
What Could the Plot Be?
Holland recently expressed that the pressure was on to deliver a great follow up to the masterpiece that the third installment was. He told Deadline, “The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing.” Many have campaigned for Maguire and Garfield to return, and while that would be very fun, they shouldn’t keep going with the trio thing.
I have an opinion on whether Holland is capable of driving a film on his own. Holland is an amazing actor and has been overly debated on whether he is the best depiction of Spider-Man, but we have to be honest: Spider-Man: Homecoming was amazing, but Robert Downey Jr. carried it. Far From Home was not all that great (I consider Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio to have been a bit cringe at times) and No Way Home was a historical moment because of the multiverse approach seeing all these past characters.
We can take it a step further and point out the Avengers films he appeared in had massive star power with storylines built for a decade. So the question stands: Is Holland now set up to lead Spider-Man 4 without any cameos and churn out a massive hit on his own? I think he can do it, but the plot plays a big role as tapping into new character arcs would be great to build on. Holland is young, so he can play this role for a while longer, unlike Downey Jr as Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America. One thing we can definitely expect to see is his relentless attempt to get MJ to fall for him again as the pair left off as strangers.
That month is set up to be a massive time in Zendaya and Holland’s career as it was also announced the couple will star in Christopher Nolan’s next project that is set to release July 17, 2025, a week before Spider-Man 4 (we’re gonna assume Z is coming back!). If Kevin Feige is looking to recreate more nostalgia, then Maguire and Garfield have also gone on record to say they would be open to coming back to their roles.
With Venom: The Last Dance concluding, it’s safe to assume we might not get that Tom Hardy/Holland battle after all, despite the end credit scene we got following No Way Home. While the fans probably would love this, new content is necessary because this can only go so far.
With that being said, this would be the perfect opportunity for Miles Morales to join the team, as Kevin Feige mentioned that idea is in the works. He told Omelete, “I hope that, shortly after that (Beyond the Spider-Verse), he can enter the MCU in live-action.” The way we see it, there’s no better time than now.