Tom Holland went on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night talk show to confirm the worst kept secret in the superhero industry: Marvel and Sony are going to make Spider-Man 4, and the sequel will begin shooting in Summer of 2025. We knew from a while back that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton had accepted the role of director on Spider-Man 4, and there also has been rumor that Spider-Man, the character, is going to have a significant part in Avengers: Doomsday. Which makes sense, given that he’s one of the prominent figures in the MCU, and that team is going to need leaders to face off against Robert Downey Jr’s version of Doctor Doom.
While Holland confirmed the start of Spider-Man 4, and a time frame for when it will begin filming, he avoided answering a few very important questions about the anticipated sequel. Notably, will it be a street-level story, or a Multiversal tale?
Spider-Man fandom, at least on social media, have been divided on this topic, particularly given the ending of the most recent Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home. That was a massive multiverse story, with the heroes and villains from the previous Spidey movies spilling into Tom Holland’s world, forcing the hero to make a major sacrifice, just to restore order. He did, but what should they do moving forward? Let’s discuss the possibilities.
Make Spider-Man 4 a Street-Level Story
You know, actually allow him to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that he hasn’t been able to be that often in the MCU. Beginning with Avengers: Infinity War, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has been to space, to Europe, to Doctor Strange’s mirror dimension, and he has died. That’s part of the joy of having Spidey in the MCU. It has been a mandate to do things with him that the previous movies – starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield – were not able to do.
But it’s time to get back to the roots of the character. Have him involved in a New York City adventure, with a classic villain or two. We know Spider-Man can save the world. But he doesn’t always HAVE to. Let’s see him defend the city that he calls home. Maybe with some help?
Fans lobbying for a street-level Spider-Man movie would like to see Tom Holland’s hero reunite with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, potentially pitting them against Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin. We know that Spidey and DD have met before:
![SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021) Daredevil Cameo Scene [HD] Charlie Cox - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2QP_iO0l_AA/maxresdefault.jpg)
They even have gone so far as to begin laying the seeds for a major Kingpin storyline in the most recent Disney+ series Echo, when Vincent D’Onofrio suggested that he is planning a run for mayor of New York City. This was a great storyline in the comics, and would alert Spider-Man and Daredevil to the threat of Wilson Fisk having that level of power. This would be an ideal opportunity for Holland’s Spidey to cross paths with Daredevil, The Punisher, Moon Knight, and a handful of other NYC heroes.
Then again, Spider-Man 4 might be part of a larger story.
Make Spider-Man 4 a Multiversal Story
Whether Spider-Man fans want it or not, Spider-Man 4 is part of a larger story unfolding across most of the upcoming Marvel movies, and that is The Multiverse Saga. Marvel Studios may have shuttled Kang the Conqueror as a threat (for now), but production decisions being made behind the scenes seem to indicate that Marvel is ensuring that all of the movies leading into Avengers: Secret Wars are Multiversal in nature, the way that Deadpool and Wolverine pulled Hugh Jackman back from an alternate timeline.
Hiring Destin Daniel Cretton for Spider-Man 4 might be a hint that the tone of this sequel is going for more of a Multiversal angle. Not that Shang-Chi dealt with that, but there were magical elements to the storyline, and Spider-Man 4 could further explore elements like the power of the Ten Rings, or that message that was being beamed out in the mid-credits sequence. For real, what is the continuation of this tease?
Marvel might be all in on using the MCU films to point toward the larger arc, the arrival of Doom. In this case, we possibly could see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man interacting with the newly introduced Fantastic Four, or teaming up with Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), fresh off her journey through the galaxies at the side of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson). Though I’d argue that Holland got a blast of the Multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home, I do understand that Kevin Feige has a bigger story to tell, so there may be aspects of Spider-Man 4 that need to move that narrative forward.
Personally? I want the street-level story. I want to see Spider-Man tasked with fighting a classic foe in Manhattan. Maybe Michael Mando returns as Scorpion, or they do bring in Black Cat. Do a Gang War storyline with Hammerhead, Tombstone, and other street-level criminals we haven’t seen in live-action. There will be time to see Spidey alongside the rest of the Avengers. If you are doing a Spider-Man movie, then do a Spider-Man movie. Leave Iron Man, Nick Fury, Doctor Strange and the rest on the sidelines.
