Marvel Studios' plans for Tom Holland's Spider-Man are in a bit of a gray area following its efforts with Sony Pictures on Spider-Man: No Way Home. Holland's first trilogy ended with an absolute bang, banking nearly $2 billion at the global box office (to date), although that film brought a part of the web-slinger's MCU journey to an end for the time being.
Under his current contract, Holland is currently slated for one more team-up movie in the MCU yet no more Spider-Man movies after No Way Home concluded with him swinging into the snowy night in his new suit with the world completely unaware of Peter Parker's existence.
That isn't to say that the MCU is done with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man - far from it actually, as Spider-Man 4 is already confirmed to be in the early stages of development.
Sony is still working hard to build its own universe of Spidey characters with films like Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web, but Holland's MCU franchise remains the team's most successful endeavor at the moment. Even with those plans in place, the most recent news surrounding Spidey's big-screen future indicates that it isn't set into stone as much as fans may expect.
Tom Holland's Future for Spider-Man 4
The Ankler's Jeff Sneider shared an update about Tom Holland's future playing Spider-Man within the MCU, which is set to continue with a fourth solo Spider-Man movie.
Even though plans are in place for more MCU Holland-led Spidey films, Sneider "[doesn't] believe he has actually signed a deal yet" with Marvel or Sony to continue playing the role. This will likely remain a high priority for Sony Pictures as the company looks to keep the franchise moving forward, especially with plans for more Spider-Man movies still being unofficial for now:
"Okay, so Sony may not have the biggest bench in terms of franchises, but it wisely made a deal with Marvel Studios to get its marquee character Spider-Man into the MCU, which helped make the studio’s solo Spidey movies must-sees, even more so. And while plans are in motion for another Spidey trilogy starring Tom Holland, I don’t believe he has actually signed a deal yet, so those plans remain unofficial for now. That said, I’m sure that more Spidey adventures with Holland are a top priority for Rothman & Co., which is also counting on him as the anchor of its budding Uncharted franchise as well."
When Will Spider-Man Return in the MCU?
Sony clearly has plenty of reasons behind wanting to complete a new deal with Tom Holland, which far exceeds the critical and financial failures of other films like Morbius. Spider-Man: No Way Home became one of the most beloved movies in MCU history, as well as the highest-grossing solo movie from the franchise in a while. Not to mention the Spider-Man trilogy has earned Sony nearly $4 billion in total box office returns.
In the end, this report shouldn't be cause for too much concern, as Holland even made it clear that he wants to take some time off before donning the red-and-blue for Marvel and Sony once again. That being said, the actor remains enthusiastic about continuing the web-slinger's adventures once that break is over, and there are countless stories for him and the team to tackle next time around.
Marvel and Sony delivered the MCU's Spider-Man trilogy over the span of four years, with films having arrived in 2017, 2019, and 2021, but it's unclear if the studios plan to keep that same increment of time for Spider-Man 4's release. However those details work out, on top of whenever Holland returns for his next team-up outing, it shouldn't be long before the wall-crawler's MCU future is more tightly secured.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently available for purchase on many digital platforms and on Blu-ray. An extended cut of the movie is also set to release in theaters in the United States and Canada on September 2.
