According to a new report, Spider-Man 4 will address one major Iron Man complaint that has been lingering for years. For years, Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man has lived in the shadow of Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, so much so that Downey's genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist altered comic book lore, gifting Holland's Peter with most of his tech to this point instead of the teenage supergenius doing it himself. This has drawn significant criticism from fans, calling the MCU Spidey' Iron Man Jr.'
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is said to directly address these Iron Man complaints, eliminating one of the biggest pressure points for some fans regarding Tom Holland's teenage superhero.
During one of his monthly Q&As on The Cosmic Circus, insider Alex Perez revealed that Holland's Spider-Man will make all his own tech for the first time, starting in Spider-Man 4.
When asked, "Will Tom Holland's Spider-Man make his own tech [going forward]?" Perez replied, "Yep:"
Q: "Will Tom Holland’s Spider-Man make his own tech and gadgets in future projects?"
A: "Yep."
This is a marked change from past entries in the MCU Spider-Man franchise, where Holland's web-headed hero has been gifted with the tech, costumes, and gadgets he uses in his superhero-ing pursuits.
Fans got a tease that would change, though, headed into this new era of MCU Spider-Man storytelling, at the close of 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home.
That film closed with Holland's Peter Parker having been forgotten by everyone in his life and living a life of relative anonymity in a showbox apartment with a new suit that he crafted himself.
This new suit (dubbed the 'Final Swing' suit) indicated that Holland's hero was coming into his own and entering the stage of his Spider-Man story where most Spidey movies begin. This will see him making do with what he has and building up his super-powered arsenal out of what he has rather than what is given to him.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to theaters on July 31, 2025. The web-slinging blockbuster will be directed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton and will star Holland alongside Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Michael Mando, and Sadie Sink.
Dubbed the fourth film in Marvel Studios' ongoing Spider-Man franchise, the new movie follows Holland's now-20-something hero living on his own in New York City and settling into his role as the Big Apple's friendly neighborhood superhero.
Why Spider-Man 4's Tech Change Matters?
As much as fans have loved Tom Holland's Spider-Man since his introduction in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, one thing has hung over the hero as he has swung from project to project: He has been handed most of his Spider-Man toolkit rather than built it himself.
Whether it was his first real super suit in Civil War, or Tony Stark's tech-filled glasses in Spider-Man: Far From Home, time and time again, Holland's Peter has had an Avenger over his shoulder pointing him in the right direction.
This is a significant departure from the Spider-Man comics, where the iconic comic hero makes do with what he has, using his own brain power to devise solutions to his super-powered problems. There have been moments when Holland's hero did that in the MCU, but, for the most part, Marvel Studios avoided this side of the character.
Thankfully, as Spidey heads into this new era of superhero storytelling, Marvel Studios is ready to dive into this particular aspect of the character, something that has not been present in past chapters of his MCU story.
Fans got a tease of this in the reveal of Holland's new Spider-Man: Brand New Day suit. His new web-shooters, which are a little more clunky than his Stark Tech ones, look like something a 20-something supergenius living paycheck to paycheck would actually come up with instead of being the result of a multi-billion-dollar tech conglomerate.
This is what Spider-Man fans love. Even though he is living on a shoestring budget and barely making rent, he can fashion the things around him for use in his costumed conquest.
