Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is expected to feature several Spider-Man Variants, and a new comment from its producer may have teased that Tom Holland's MCU web-slinger may be one of those heroes that could appear.
The upcoming animated sequel to the highly successful Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been the talk of the town in the past few weeks due to its Multiverse-sized rumors.
There have reportedly been discussions about incorporating Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Men as a cameo in the sequel or its follow-up, Beyond the Spider-Verse. Not only that, but Tom Holland's Spider-Man is also the subject of rumors when it comes to a possible appearance in Across the Spider-Verse.
Now, this rumor has seemingly been addressed in a new interview.
Spider-Verse Producer Plays Coy about Tom Holland's Cameo
In the latest issue of Empire magazine, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse producer Christopher Miller was asked about the possibility of seeing Tom Holland as the MCU's Spider-Man in the animated sequel.
Miller briefly responded by playing coy about the matter, noting that "anything is possible" due to the film's connection to the Multiverse:
"Let’s say... Anything is possible in the multiverse."
This isn't the first time that Miller and his co-producer Phil Lord addressed potential MCU connections from their movie.
In a past interview from February 2022, Miller noted that “the Multiverse is big and wider,” when responding about the possibility of including MCU references:
“The Multiverse is big and wide. And all things grow... Why would you think a Multiverse, in which many things are possible, that [those things are] not related?”
Lord then added that “everything’s possible except for this one thing that everyone wants.”
Moving back to the producers' conversation with Empire, Lord and Miller were asked why they decided to make the Spider-Verse sequels a two-part story.
Lord first explained that "the story started to get pretty big" leading to Sony Pictures' support of allowing them to tell a "really grand, epic story in animation:"
"I guess we’re gonna get asked this a lot, Chris! You’re gonna get a raw answer. The story started to get pretty big. And we had a unique opportunity with a really supportive studio to tell a really grand, epic story in animation. There are not that many chances to do that. I think it’s made the two films into more surprising movies."
Miller then shared that each movie could "stand alone on its own," thus explaining why it needs to be split into two parts:
"When we realised that each one could stand alone on its own and you could dig into the emotional depths that we wanted to instead of just breezing past it to get through the plot, that felt like it was the right decision. So we were able to tell this story completely. And, you know, bladders only last so long."
When asked if they were able to get into specifics on some of the different worlds that Across the Spider-Verse will feature, Miller explained the existence of an Indian-inspired Earth (Earth-50101) and Spider-Man 2099's home of Nueva York:
"Well, the two that you saw in the teaser trailer were what, called Earth-50101, which we’re calling ‘Mumbattan’ — that’s based on an Indian comic-book look — and Nueva York from Spider-Man 2099, world. That’s based on Syd Mead-style illustrations of what the future might look like. There, also Gwen’s world, which is Earth-65. And that has a watercolour-wash style that, reminiscent of the covers of her comic books."
Lord then talked about how Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Man 2099 fits into the sequel, describing him as a "leader of a band of fighters:"
"Miguel O’Hara is the leader of a band of fighters that are trying to clean up the consequences of the collider explosion at the end of the first movie. And as you can imagine, it’s really hard to lead a bunch of people who have never been led [laughs]."
Will Tom Holland Appear in Spider-Verse 2?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is poised to feature tons of surprises, and seeing Tom Holland's web-slinger in animated form would top that list.
While an MCU connection would be exciting, many would agree that there should be a compelling reason why the MCU hero would appear in an already-stacked animated sequel.
It is unknown if the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home will be addressed in Across the Spider-Verse, but it's possible that they will be since it takes place in the wider Multiverse. That said, Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Man 2099 may have taken notice of that game-changing event in Earth-616, meaning that the hero would've placed Holland's web-crawler as one of his targets for recruitment.
This would make sense, considering Phil Lord's comment about Spider-Man 2099 serving as the "leader of a band of fighters" which means that he is responsible in assembling these Variants.
Whether it is archival footage from the MCU in animated form or via a post-credits scene, Holland's appearance in Across the Spider-Verse would clearly establish the presence of the Multiverse while also building more hype for the web-slinging franchise from Sony.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters on June 2, 2023.
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