A little over three years ago, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker teamed up with his Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield-portrayed counterparts from other corners of the Marvel multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now the countdown has begun for us to reunite with this version of Marvel Comics’ Web-Slinger, as the yet-to-be-officially-titled Spider-Man 4 is slated for a summer 2026 release. However, the popular Spider-Man villain Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, just got ruled out for the upcoming Marvel movie, and I’m disappointed to learn he won’t appear.
Vincent D’Onofrio, who’s been playing Kingpin since the original Daredevil TV series premiered in 2015 on Netflix, broke the bad news while speaking with Adam Barnhardt alongside his Daredevil: Born Again co-star Charlie Cox. In the midst of these two discussing their upcoming Marvel TV show, which will soon premiere on the 2025 TV schedule, Barnhardt mentioned that he didn’t want to get them in trouble by asking a question like “if you guys are in Spider-Man 4,” to which Vincent D’Onofrio said:
Well, for you, we're not. You can ask that because we're not in Spider-Man 4, or at least nobody has told me that we are. And, but, you know, I'm just saying that to Charlie, Adam only because we've had a lot of, we've done a lot of interviews and most of them hadn't really thought that through. But I'm just giving you some praise because that's why I think you're awesome.
If you’re like me and spend a lot of time reading news on upcoming superhero movies, you’ve likely seen various opinion pieces on how Spider-Man 4 should tell a more street crime-level story and pit Tom Holland’s Peter against Kingpin, who was introduced in 1967’s The Amazing Spider-Man #50. Furthermore, this would provide the perfect reason for Peter and Charlie Cox’s Matthew Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil, to team up, which frequently happens in the comics. After all, Cox was able to cameo as Matt in No Way Home, and he also vocally reprised the character recently in the Disney+ subscription-exclusive animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Alas, neither of these things will be happening, as D’Onofrio and Cox have not been contacted about Spider-Man 4. At this point, they’d almost certainly know if they’d be involved since filming is expected to begin this summer. It’s a shame though, as I’ve been looking forward to a Spider-Man vs. Kingpin fight in live-action for a long time, especially after seeing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. Partnering up with Daredevil would be the icing on the cake, as Matt is one of Peter’s closest superhero allies in the comics. Can’t we get this someday?
Perhaps the upcoming Spider-Man movie could still make a street-level story work with a villain like Hammerhead to Tombstone, though there have also been rumblings that the flick will once again lean into the multiverse. That would make sense given No Way Home’s success and that Spider-Man 4 is sandwiched in between the releases of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the capstone events of The Multiverse Saga. That doesn’t I can’t have my issues with the movie utilizing Kingpin and Daredevil, as that would also surely help put butts in seats.
Spider-Man 4 spins its web in theaters on July 31, 2026, just two weeks after Tom Holland will be seen in Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of The Odyssey. Meanwhile, the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again come out next Tuesday, March 4.
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