According to a new report, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures may be making headway on a deal that would allow Tom Holland's Spider-Man to make his non-Spidey movie MCU return.
By the end of 2024, more than three years will have passed since the release of Holland's last wall-crawling adventure, Spider-Man: No Way Home. This marks the longest gap between Holland-led Spider-Man movies since he took over the role.
That seemingly never-ending wait may be coming to an end soon though. Recent news has indicated that Marvel Studios is starting the gear up for a fourth MCU Spider-Man film, with Destin Daniel Cretton set to take on directing duties (read more about Cretton's Spider-Man 4 involvement here).
A New Spider-Man Deal May Be Close
Word is that Marvel Studios is starting to work towards Tom Holland's return to the MCU outside the long-awaited Spider-Man 4.
Insider Daniel Richtman wrote on his personal Patreon that sources have told him Spider-Man film rights holder Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are at work on a new deal that would allow Holland's take on the web-slinger to appear in multiple MCU movies.
These on-screen appearances would be outside the solo Spider-Man films the studios have planned, akin to Holland's roles in titles like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.
As a part of this reported deal, Richtman wrote that it would also see Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige oversee all of Holland's solo Spider-Man movies as well.
This should quell fears that after the Jon Watts Spider-Man trilogy, Sony was going to take a bigger creative stake in the mainline Spider-Man films (outside of its oft-maligned villain-centric Sony Spider-Man Universe) and Marvel Studios was going to lose out on using Holland's character in their on-screen universe.
Where Could Spider-Man Show Up?
Seeing this news will almost surely start the wheels of speculation among MCU fans.
There has been so much talk about Tom Holland's fourth Spider-Man film that many have not taken the time to think about the character's future beyond that.
It would make sense that Marvel Studios would be fighting to use Holland's wall-crawling hero in some of its other projects in the next couple of years.
The franchise has lost some big names in the last half-decade or so (namely Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Chris Evans' Captain America), so, the studio is likely searching for its next A-list talent to take the franchise into its new era.
With two Avengers films on the docket for Marvel (Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars), someone like Tom Holland's Peter Parker should be high on the list to be a big part of this new iteration of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Outside the mainline Avengers films, Holland seems like a solid bet to pop up in the previously teased Young Avengers project coming from the studio.
As hinted at in last year's The Marvels, with Iman Vellani's Kamala Kahn recruiting Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop, the MCU seems to be laying the groundwork for the super-powered teenage team to appear on-screen at some point soon.
When the Young Avengers dominos start to fall, surely, a talent like Holland's Spider-Man would be the betting favorite to lead such a squad.
The Young Avengers project remains just a rumor though, so Holland's inclusion is nothing from a sure thing.
At this point, the character's most likely next appearance will come in Spider-Man 4, which is reportedly set to start filming sometime next year.
Spider-Man 4 has no official release date.
