This is a jam-packed year for Marvel Studios, both on the film and television sides. Audiences are preparing for the launch of the latest upcoming Marvel movie, Captain America: Brave New World, which puts Anthony Mackie in the title role but got off to a rough start with critics. Next month, the Man Without Fear – Charlie Cox’s Daredevil – returns to the MCU for anyone with a Disney+ subscription. And the Fantastic Four are waiting in the wings for July. But Marvel’s already looking down the road, having revealed that Avengers: Doomsday begins filming in a few weeks, and confirming plans for a Spider-Man 4, led by Tom Holland. We have a few key details for that sequel, but I still have one major question.
It’s beyond logical that Spider-Man 4 will need to film some time in 2025. The anticipated sequel has a confirmed release date of July 24, 2026, with Destin Daniel Cretton taking over Jon Watts in the director’s chair. Over on Brothers Trust, Tom Holland is offering up a sweet raffle prize that will send a lucky fan to England to visit the Spider-Man 4 set in what they are calling “summer/autumn 2025,” giving us a time frame of the production. But I really need to know who Holland’s Spidey will be fighting in this fourth movie. Because the choice of villain is going to set the tone of the sequel, and likely determine whether this will be a street-level battle, or another cosmic, multiverse adventure like Spider-Man: No Way Home.
This has been the ongoing debate waged by dedicated Spidey fans. Since joining the MCU, Holland’s Spider-Man has been to space, fought aliens, traveled to Europe, and died. Granted, Marvel Studios was excited to use the hero in ways that Sony never could when he wasn’t a member of the MCU. But it’s time for Spider-Man to have a friendly, neighborhood movie that focuses on the emotional core of the character. And given where the MCU left him at the end of No Way Home, it feels like that’s the direction in which we are heading.
Peter Parker is now alone, seemingly broke, and dedicated to being Spider-Man. This is where Spider-Man 4 should pick up, and he should have a worthy villain that matches his current state in life. Hoping that Spider-Man 4 will go in that direction, here are some suggestions as to whom I’d like to see Tom Holland tackle in next summer’s Spidey sequel.
The Kingpin
A lot of you might agree with me after we all see Daredevil: Born Again in March. Vincent D’Onofrio will once again play the menacing Wilson Fisk in a Marvel property, facing off against Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in a battle over the soul of New York City. But because Spider-Man also is a Manhattan staple, I could easily see a scenario where Kingpin is used as a villain in Spider-Man 4, with the storyline of “Mayor Kingpin” carrying over to next summer’s movie. In Born Again, we will see the ramifications of Fisk running for political office in New York. If Spider-Man 4 continues a comics storyline known as Devil’s Reign, we could see multiple New York heroes having to team up against a newly powerful Fisk. I’d love to see that.
Scorpion
Are you guys watching the animated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? If not, you really should. It focuses on a multiversal Peter Parker, and puts a fresh spin on the familiar Spider-Man origin. But it also is shining a light on some underused Spider-Man villains, including Scorpion. For a while, I thought the MCU was building toward a live-action Scorpion, after casting Michael Mando as Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming and putting him in the post-credits stinger (pun intended). But nothing has come of it, so why not let the villain pay off now?
Kraven the Hunter
OK, hear me out. Sony’s Spider-Man universe is a trainwreck. And by all accounts, it’s dead in the water. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon it completely. Aaron Taylor-Johnson appeared to be having a good time in the R-rated Kraven the Hunter, and Kraven’s a magnificent character with so much potential. There was a time, before No Way Home became a Multiverse movie, when Jon Watts wanted to do a Kraven story with Tom Holland. There’s still time. We have Peter Parker dedicated to being Spider-Man. And we have Kraven coming to New York to prove he’s the best Big Game hunter in the world by going after Spidey. There are great comics that can serve as the source material for this, so let’s roll the dice!
Black Cat
In the end, I bet this is the villain that Marvel goes with. And given the emotional state of Peter Parker following his Home trilogy, it makes sense. Peter sacrificed his personal life to make things right with the universe. He’ll be missing M.J. (Zendaya, who still is rumored to appear), and is susceptible to the romantic charms of Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat. Using Hardy opens the door to Silver Sable, or maybe some Gangland criminals from the Spidey universe such as Tombstone, Hammerhead, or The Enforcers. Either way, I’d LOVE for Spider-Man 4 to maintain a grounded touch before Marvel eventually gives Holland his own Symbiote storyline (which you know is inevitable).
We should hear something regarding casting on a Spider-Man 4 villain sometime this year, so stay tuned.
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