The Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to take a dive into the deep end of the multiverse, which is already set to play an important role in multiple projects releasing during Phase 4. This will seemingly start in the very first new project with Disney+‘s WandaVision before taking the concept to its fullest in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Due to this inclusion, Marvel fans are already fantasizing about different versions of their favorite characters that the multiverse could bring in, especially after rumors released that Marvel Studios themselves were exploring that same option. Spider-Man seems to be the first major character to deal with these new alternate realities, which even led to some interesting conversations about the multiple Peter Parkers in cinema in a new social media blast.
NEWS
Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson recently engaged in a Twitter thread that posed the question of how many iterations of Spider-Man are MCU canon. It was all started by the @nerdist page, who put out this by tweet:
British director Duncan Jones responded from his @ManMadeMoon Twitter page with this GIF of John Mulaney’s Spider-Ham from Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse :
pic.twitter.com/QKLg254yn3
A fan proceeded to point out the fact that this animated movie isn’t technically in the MCU:
Jones jokingly contested that Doctor Strange could make such a character connected to the MCU:
Tangential connections through portals is covered under the Dr Strange subsection. Can i have a ruling, @scottderrickson?
Finally, Derrickson himself put out his own opinion, joking that every version of Spider-Man is within MCU canon:
WHAT THIS MEANS
The idea of the MCU’s multiverse has been one of the hottest topics of conversation ever since it was first confirmed to arrive in Phase 4 at San Diego Comic-Con. While the details of its inclusion in the MCU are still a mystery, it has been teased more than once through the MCU’s Phase 3, and now it is set to become a reality in the near future.
With Spider-Man 3 serving as the first Phase 4 movie to tackle the multiverse, including Jamie Foxx’s Electro in the plot, fans are already imagining the possibility of past characters from the other Spidey movies that could join in the fray. While said in jest, Derrickson suggested that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men, as well as the heroes in Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, could be seen as MCU characters - fans will have to wait until the release of Phase 4 to know for sure whether this turns out to be the case.
It’s also quite fun to see Derrickson engaging so much in this type of interaction despite his stepping away from directorial duties of MCU's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . Still serving as a producer, he is clearly very involved in the story behind the MCU, and even though he’s joking around here, nothing should be taken simply at face value when it involves the potential future of the MCU.
There have been no castings that have confirmed the MCU Spider-Verse theory, but MCU fans all over the world are already thinking about just how far this idea can go once Phase 4 kicks off in January. Spider-Man 3 will release on December 17, 2021, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness coming on March 25, 2022 .
