Official promotional art for Avengers: Doomsday teased the potential return of a Spider-Man Variant. The upcoming MCU crossover event will feature the massive team-up between the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, but one iconic hero remains unconfirmed in the imminent clash: Spider-Man. Speculation arose that Tom Holland's Spider-Man might be sitting out Avengers: Doomsday, fueled by uncertainty over his fate in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and by a March 2025 report stating he would not appear in the 2026 MCU film at all.
In May 2025, though, entertainment insider Daniel Richtman shared that Sony and Marvel were working out a deal to use Tom Holland's Spider-Man in Avengers: Doomsday, but no official details emerged online. In celebration of Easter Sunday, Robert Downey Jr. (via Instagram) shared official Doctor Doom art from Avengers: Doomsday, featuring the Marvel villain looking over a woven Easter basket filled with Easter eggs bearing symbols of MCU heroes, including Spider-Man.
This serves as the first major and official tease of Spider-Man's inclusion in Avengers: Doomsday, igniting speculation about which version of the web-slinger will appear in the crossover event.
While the status of Tom Holland's Spider-Man in Doomsday is still up in the air, a November 2025 report from insider Daniel Richtman claimed that at least one Spider-Man would appear in the film, leading to the belief that he could be referring to either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield's respective Variants.
Maguire's Peter Parker was last seen at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, going back to his universe. If he does appear in Doomsday, it will mark his second-ever appearance in the MCU. As for Garfield, the actor denied any involvement in Avengers: Doomsday, but rumors point to his eventual return in Avengers: Secret Wars instead.
Part of the rumor mill for Avengers: Doomsday revealed that Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man will share scenes with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and seeing these two legacy heroes together will definitely be an intriguing sight for new and longtime fans.
While Spider-Man has yet to be confirmed, Avengers: Doomsday will feature a plethora of heroes, headlined by the returning Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Yelena Belova, Shang-Chi, the Fantastic Four, Cyclops, Charles Xavier, Magneto, and many more.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to premiere in theaters on December 18.
How Spider-Man Fits In Avengers: Doomsday's Multiversal Plot
It would be a missed opportunity for Avengers: Doomsday not to feature any version of Spider-Man, given the hype surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home and the movie's Multiverse-heavy story.
Whether it's Tom Holland's version or any of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's respective Variants, a Spider-Man is needed in Doomsday to satisfy its goal of raising the stakes of the imminent collapse of the Multiverse due to the incursions.
Maguire is an ideal Variant to appear first in Avengers: Doomsday because it offers him a great opportunity to share scenes with other legacy actors, such as Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier, and Chris Evans' Steve Rogers. Seeing him side by side with other MCU characters (not Holland and Garfield's Spider-Man) would be enough to drum up hype for the upcoming MCU crossover.
While Spider-Man: Brand New Day's ending is (obviously) still being kept under wraps, there could be a solid reason why Holland's Spider-Man is being sidelined, possibly leaving him isolated for a while before eventually returning for his rumored big role in Avengers: Secret Wars.
