Now that fans no doubt are rejoicing over the news that Spider-Man is coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the only way is to move forward with the possibilities of where the superhero would go next. We’ve covered something similar with Thor before, and Spider-Man is no exception to our predictions for his future storylines.
Bear in mind, in this list we’re looking at potential storylines mainly based on the direction the MCU has taken, not only on previously seen stories in other media. This means there’s a world of possible stories to explore, and we’ve carved it down to these 10 storylines we’d like to see Spider-Man having in the third movie.
Beginning A Mini-Avengers
By now, Peter’s friends in MJ and Ned Leeds have been established enough for them to be upgraded from civilian figures to superhero status. Since Peter has access to Tony’s vast array of technology, we might be in to see a Mini-Avengers forming, one that seeks to protect “the little guy.”
Shazam! showed how a kind of superhero family could work, and Peter handing out his friends enough tech to work alongside him might see him developing slowly into a leadership role. This would also mean that the Mini-Avengers would be good enough to protect the city, while Peter graduates over to the big leagues with the actual Avengers.
Facing Off Against Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom is the hottest name going around to be the villain of the next saga following Thanos’s demise, and what better way for him to show up than against Spider-Man? After all, Spider-Man is the only active superhero Doom’s introduction would make sense against.
Of course, Doom would have to be used in short bursts, which means the story of the film would have Peter fighting off Doom’s goons. This would ideally lead into Doom revealing his sinister plans, paving the way for perhaps the Fantastic Four's introduction, whose introduction would be built up by having them be associated with Spider-Man.
Clearing His Name
The most obvious angle would be picking up from Spider-Man: Far From Home’s stinger, where Peter’s secret identity was exposed by JJJ. We don’t know where this would go, though, seeing as this doesn’t specify who the main antagonist would be.
The most likely scenario would be that Peter’s name would be cleared as being Spider-Man, but that the superhero himself would be hunted. This would lead to Peter taking a job at the Daily Bugle in order to influence the paper to paint Spider-Man in a positive light. Finally, the addition of an antagonist for Spider-Man to defeat would be the way he convinces people he’s not the bad guy.
Teaming Up With Iron Lad
You can bet that, had Spider-Man not been introduced in the MCU, Harley Keener would have been the one to undergo the storyline the wallcrawler got with Iron Man. Harley’s appearance at Tony’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame revitalized interest in the character, and it would make sense for him to start a friendship with Peter.
The characters are meant to be the same age, so it’s easy to see them coming across one another and unlocking further secrets about the Iron Man armor. This could end up in a partnership forming between the two, where Harley takes on the moniker of Iron Lad, and Peter acts as his mentor and friend.
Secret Invasion
The Skrulls were introduced in Captain Marvel, but there was no “Secret Invasion” angle as these people were instead made out to be the good guys. Spider-Man: Far From Home continued the appearances of the Skrulls, which could kickstart the “Secret Invasion” angle in the MCU.
Just because the current Skrulls we’ve seen have been good doesn’t mean all of them should be, and Spider-Man’s trust in these guys should be shown to be fractured when some Skrulls turn out to be villainous. This would also being in Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. in a more prominent role, as Peter would be seen trying to figure out how to separate friend from foe.
Rescuing Morgan Stark
On the other hand, we might just have a simple but deeply personal storyline for the third film. As we know, Pepper and Tony's daughter, Morgan, was left without a father at the end of Avengers: Endgame, which leaves her vulnerable for Tony’s enemies to potentially abduct her.
This could be what the film might delve into, as Spider-Man would need to rescue the daughter of his own father figure. Fans would absolutely love this angle, as it would make Peter out to be in a position to act as a big brother to Morgan, where the entire arc of this Spider-Man trilogy about Peter being connected to the Starks would be complete.
Realizing He's Still In Mysterio's Illusion
How cool would it be to see that everything from the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home was another one of Mysterio’s illusions, and that Spider-Man is still stuck in them. This would make all of the third installment one big puzzle game, as we won’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
It would also fix the big plot point of everyone knowing Spider-Man’s identity, with Peter snapping the illusion away to return to the real world. Within this story, we could have an entirely new villain, who would be revealed to an illusion created by Mysterio - this baddie could even very well be a version of Spider-Man himself, seeing as everything goes within illusions.
Fighting Kraven The Hunter
Before Spider-Man was initially dropped from the MCU, there was talk coming from both Tom Holland and Jon Watts over the possibility of Kraven the Hunter being the villain of the third movie. If this comes to pass, then the story seems pretty simple.
Kraven would show up in New York in search of his greatest hunt, where he finds Spider-Man as his perfect target. There could also be a twist in the story by having Kraven be hired by the city to capture Spider-Man due to the accusations put on him by Mysterio, and the story could have Kraven act as a bounty hunter.
Battling A Resurgent Ultron
This is both the most "out there" story, but also one of the best possibilities. Ultron saw his creation at the hands of Tony as the ultimate insult, but still considered Tony to be his father of sorts; Peter himself held Tony as a father figure, only with a better perception of him.
This could lead to a fragment of Ultron surviving from the second Avengers movie, now with intentions to exterminate Tony’s “son” due to his feelings of resentment and abandonment. It could be seen as a face-off between both creations of Stark, with Ultron representing Tony’s worst and Spider-Man representing his best.
Becoming The Leader Of The Avengers
Should this film be the final part of a trilogy of Spider-Man films, then we could see the character transition over to mainly team-up films like Iron Man did after his trilogy. If this happens, then the only sensible move would be to make Spider-Man the new leader of the Avengers.
This can also tie up with Doctor Doom being the villain, as Spider-Man would be the one to summon the likes of Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, and every other available Avenger out there. Peter’s development from a troubled teen to a responsible leader would be complete this way, leading directly into Avengers 5.