Sony has officially delayed the untitled Spider-Man Homecoming 3 starring Tom Holland to December 2021. The studio rebooted Marvel's friendly neighborhood web-slinger as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe a few years ago after Spider-Man appeared in Captain America: Civil War. Holland's debut as Spidey came a year before he would lead Spider-Man: Homecoming and relaunch the standalone franchise.

Last year, Spider-Man: Far From Home was the first MCU movie to come out after Avengers: Endgame, and the excitement to see Spider-Man's journey continue was evident. The movie became the highest-grossing standalone Spider-Man movie after making $1.1 billion worldwide. It was confirmed shortly thereafter that Spider-Man 3 was on the way and set for a July 2021 release, but it has since been delayed due to coronavirus. But now, the third solo movie has been pushed back again.

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Sony announced that Spider-Man Homecoming 3 has been delayed from November 5, 2021 to December 17, 2021. The one month delay will mark the first time either a solo Spidey film or entry in the MCU have been released over the Christmas holiday season.

An image of Peter smiling in Spider-Man: Far From Home

The delay of Spider-Man 3 comes right on the heels of Disney making changes to their release slate as well. The Mouse House recently announced that Avatar 2 was delayed from December 2021 to December 2022, which left this spot open for another blockbuster to take. Sony moved quickly to take what has recently been a prime release slot, and they've experienced the success first hand with the Jumanji franchise. But, this new date also puts Spider-Man 3 almost directly up against the current date for Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam. Regardless of Spider-Man 3's delay, Warner Bros. might need to push the DC movie back due to production delays.

Delayed starts to production likely also played a factor in Sony's decision to move Spider-Man 3 back a month. They are currently hoping to begin filming the highly anticipated sequel in September, but it looks increasingly unlikely that this will be possible. With Spider-Man 3's new release date, there shouldn't be a need for production to begin until the end of 2020. This will give director Jon Watts and the studios a bit more time to perfect the movie before cameras need to start rolling. So far, most details on the next installment have yet to be revealed, as not even the title is confirmed at this point. It is widely expected that Kraven will be the villain of the movie, though that has not been officially announced. If Kraven is the villain, then maybe he'll get to hunt Spidey during Christmas if Spider-Man Homecoming 3 adjusts its setting to take place around the holidays.

MORE: Spider-Man 3 Theory: Tom Holland's Spider-Man Teams Up With Tom Hardy's Venom

Source: Sony

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