Spider-Man 2 Has A Superman Problem After Avengers: Infinity War

This post contains SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War is one of Marvel's greatest triumphs, but its shocking ending presents a number of problems for the studio's marketing department. Finally showcasing Thanos in a meaningful role after six years of teasing, the culmination of the MCU to date featured the Mad Titan acquiring all six Infinity Stones, snapping his fingers, and wiping out half of the universe's population. Of course, this meant some of the superheroes who had united to defeat the villain were among the casualties, and Marvel didn't hold anything back when it came to offing the characters.

Arguably the most emotional death in Infinity War was that of Spider-Man. Bolstered by Tom Holland's genius improvisation ("I don't want to go... I don't want to go"), the scene was excruciatingly heartbreaking and was enough to bring anyone to tears. When viewed in a vacuum, it's a gut punch. However, when considering the larger picture and the future of the MCU, killing Peter Parker in Infinity War makes things rather difficult when it comes time to promote 2019's slate.

Why Spider-Man Has A Marketing Problem

In contrast to years past when they would announce full lineups years in advance, Marvel Studios has been somewhat cagey when it comes to discussing Phase 4 in beyond. While Kevin Feige has had conversations about films for 2025, Marvel is keeping their plans close to the chest. The reasoning for this is two-fold; it allows fans to concentrate on the now and focus on the present (instead of looking too far ahead). Additionally, this is a conscious choice to not spoil what happens in Avengers 4. In fact, there may not be any confirmation on titles until after next year's blockbuster hits theaters. This change in strategy is curious when you consider some Phase 4 projects are already in development.

The untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel was dated for July 2019 back in 2016 - months before the first Homecoming opened in theaters. Anyone who's seen Infinity War can tell you why this is an issue. Spider-Man died in Avengers 3, but the fact his sub-franchise is continuing undercuts the drama of that particular moment. Knowing Peter Parker will return to help lead the MCU into its next era makes the death ring hollow and cheapens the impact it was meant to have. The same can be said for the Guardians of the Galaxy (who have a third standalone coming in 2020) and Black Panther (whose $1 billion solo film is definitely getting a followup), but Spider-Man presents the most immediate problem to deal with because his next film comes out two months after Avengers 4, and Sony (who is distributing Homecoming 2) will want to generate hype for their big summer release.

What makes this so tricky is that Marvel essentially has to spoil Spider-Man comes back in Avengers 4 well ahead of time so Sony can market the Homecoming sequel. During promotion for the first film, a teaser trailer was released in December 2016, followed by a full preview in March 2017. Given Homecoming 2 opens in early July, it stands reason to believe Sony will institute a similar marketing pattern for the sequel - perhaps unveiling a teaser as early as January 2019. Homecoming 2 reportedly starts filming this summer (with Tom Holland back in the lead role), so there will be plenty of footage to cut together a trailer for the wall-crawler's international adventure. Taking a page out of the Solo playbook and waiting as long as possible to begin advertising isn't all that plausible. Lucasfilm will have spent nearly four months (early February to late May) raising awareness for Solo. Cramming all Homecoming advertising in about half that time (early May to early July) is unheard of.

This particular predicament shares some similarities to Superman in the DCEU. Kal-El, of course, met his end at the hands of Doomsday in Batman V Superman, sacrificing himself so Earth would be saved. Still, savvy audiences knew the Last Son of Krypton would be back in the fold for Justice League, especially after seeing the particles of dust lift off Clark Kent's coffin. But whereas Warner Bros. botched the situation by being overly coy about it, Marvel has an opportunity to learn from their colleagues' mistakes by asking the right questions in marketing.

Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man in Avengers Infinity War

So, How Does Spider-Man Return?

The smartest play for Marvel to make is to be explicitly upfront about certain "dead" characters returning, using the mystery of how they come back (rather than if) to fuel speculation. Marvel wouldn't be doing anybody any favors if they tried to be too secretive about Spider-Man's involvement in Avengers 4 and beyond, particularly when there are bound to be set photos of Holland in-costume filming Homecoming 2. Of course, the marketing team is going to have to find the proper balance and hold off on revealing everyone who comes back from the dead. Spider-Man, Star-Lord, T'Challa, and others who have more movies in the works are fair game, but there are some who shouldn't be seen in marketing - if only to maintain the illusion that they're really gone.

One thing Marvel will never spoil in Avengers 4 trailers is how exactly Thanos is defeated. All we know is that Doctor Strange saw more than 14 million outcomes, and Earth's Mightiest only won in one scenario. Letting Thanos accomplish is mission is apparently one step on the path to victory, but specifics beyond that are strictly under wraps. Since the destination is basically known (most, if not all of, Thanos' damage is getting reversed), the goal for Avengers 4 trailers is to make it all about the journey. Marvel has to market it as if it's a prequel to movies that aren't out yet (and financially successful prequels are nothing new in Hollywood), laying breadcrumbs for what the surviving Avengers need to do in order to achieve victory. Hopefully, whatever the filmmakers came up with is satisfying and delivers on a year's worth of speculation.

It honestly wouldn't be surprising for the Avengers 4 trailers to set the stage for the narrative by flat out telling the audience there's a way to save everybody. Infinity War ends with Nick Fury sending out a distress signal to Captain Marvel, who is confirmed to appear in next summer's team-up. It's reasonable to assume she's the one who breaks the original Avengers out of whatever funk they're in following Thanos' snap and reignites their hope by laying out how they're going to undo the mass genocide. This would actually go a long way in making the stakes for Avengers 4 feel very personal. The heroes who survived Infinity War are fighting to save their friends and loved ones and make up for their catastrophic failure in the previous movie.

If there is a downside to this, it's that it runs the risk of undermining Infinity War's tragic ending to the point where it may be hard for some viewers to ever take "death" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seriously again. Inconsequential casualties have plagued the franchise for years now, and there comes a point where some of the killings need to be permanent in order to keep audiences invested. However, it's worth remembering Infinity War is part one of a two-part narrative. Regardless of what Kevin Feige and company say about the Avengers 4 title, it's essentially Infinity War 2, and we won't know the full consequences of the battle against Thanos until after that movie comes out. If we look at Infinity War as a massive, five-hour movie, then the Thanos Snap is the end of act 2, where the heroes find themselves at their lowest point before bouncing back.

The box office numbers indicate Marvel certainly knows how to market their movies, so audiences should trust them to come up with a solid campaign for Avengers 4. It'll undeniably be tricky, but there are ways to go about it, and it will be interesting to see what Marvel does when the time comes. This is the same company that launched the #ThanosDemandsYourSilence hashtag and are protective of their spoilers, though they may have to break tradition in this instance and be frank with viewers. There's no use in playing around and pretending characters are dead when they're next appearances are already in the fold.