Sony Risks Wasting No Way Home's Perfect Spider-Man Future Setup

Spider-Man: No Way Home addressed the chaos and mysteries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s multiverse, and it had a perfect set-up for Spider-Man’s future that Sony could end up wasting. After teasing the dangers of messing with the multiverse in the TV series Loki, the MCU went deeper into it in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw a crossover between villains of Sam Raimi and Marc Webb’s Spider-Man universes, two of Peter Parker’s variants (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield), and the MCU’s Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and his own universe, all thanks to a botched spell cast by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).

The only solution for this multiversal chaos was to cast a spell that would make the world forget Peter Parker, and this time, the spell was cast successfully. At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker was left completely alone and was seen starting all over again from scratch, and while this is a dark and depressing ending for the web-slinger, No Way Home also set up a couple of adventures not only for the MCU’s version of Spider-Man but for his variants as well – however, Sony is at risk of wasting all this by taking too long to move forward with some of the Spider-Man projects that are said to be in development.

No Way Home Set Up Lots Of Possible Spider-Man Futures

Andrew Garfield holds Tobey up and says goodbye to 616 Peter

With no one – not even his girlfriend MJ, his best friend Ned Leeds, and Happy Hogan – remembering who he is and Aunt May now dead, No Way Home set up a potentially depressing future for Spider-Man in the MCU, but it’s also making way for some popular comic book storylines to finally be adapted to the big screen. As No Way Home left the door wide open for Spider-Man’s future, a fourth Spider-Man movie has already been announced to be in development, and while the audience waits for an official announcement on Spider-Man 4, there are other possible Spider-Man futures set up by No Way Home.

Aside from the obvious continuation of Holland’s Peter Parker’s story post-memory-wiping spell, No Way Home set up full returns of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men. No Way Home not only brought them back to have them team up and mentor Holland’s Spider-Man, as it also gave some hints at what has happened to them in their respective universes since the events of Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While this answered some of the biggest questions about their stories, it also made way for a return of these two Spider-Men, though not as a cameo or guest appearances, as No Way Home did.

Sony Is Taking A Long Time To Confirm MCU Spider-Man 4

Spiderman no way home Peter parker spell

Given the success of the MCU’s version of Spider-Man and the big cliffhanger ending of No Way Home, it’s not surprising that a fourth Spider-Man movie is being considered – what’s surprising is that Sony hasn’t officially announced the project. The first news about Spider-Man 4 arrived in August 2019, when it was said to be in development alongside No Way Home, and it was later revealed that No Way Home was the end of a franchise, so future Spider-Man movies would be different. Later, in November 2021, Sony’s Amy Pascal said that there were plans for another trilogy of Spider-Man movies with Holland back as the web-slinger and they were about to start working on the first one, but details about this fourth movie have since been contradicting.

In December 2021, Marvel’s Kevin Feige said he and Pascal were actively beginning to develop the story for a fourth Spider-Man movie, but there hasn’t been an official announcement about this project yet, so much so that it wasn’t included in the Phase 5 and 6 lists shared by Feige at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. Sony taking so long to confirm Spider-Man 4 is even stranger after taking a look at the gap between the previous MCU Spider-Man movies. Spider-Man: Homecoming was released in the summer of 2017 and Spider-Man: Far From Home entered pre-production in August 2017. No Way Home had a slightly more complicated process as negotiations between Sony and Marvel fell through, but in September 2019, a new deal between the studios was announced and with that the production of No Way Home, just a couple of months after Far From Home’s release.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Spider-Man 4 won’t happen, but it’s curious that a whole year has passed since No Way Home’s release and there’s no confirmation on the development of Spider-Man 4. However, this is very fitting with what Marvel has been doing throughout the Multiverse Saga, taking longer to announce sequels (such as Eternals 2) and even delaying the release of trailers, and with Phase 5 already full and Phase 6 still being built, it makes sense that an official Spider-Man 4 announcement is taking so long.

Maguire & Garfield's Spider-Man Returns Seem Less Likely Now

Spiderman 4 tom holland andrew garfield tobey maguire peter parker

Even though Spider-Man 4 hasn’t been confirmed, the future of Holland’s Spider-Man in the MCU is a lot brighter than the returns of Maguire and Garfield’s versions. Their appearances in No Way Home reignited the audience’s interest in a fourth Spider-Man movie from Sam Raimi’s universe and The Amazing Spider-Man 3, with the latter gaining a lot more force thanks to social media. However, with Sony keeping quiet about the future of Spider-Man (all the Spideys), enthusiasm and hope for Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 and The Amazing Spider-Man 3 has died down, and that not only makes the development of these movies less likely but also the return of Maguire and Garfield in the MCU as part of the Multiverse Saga. While it’s unlikely that plans for the future of Spider-Man in the MCU will be canceled, Sony is at risk of wasting those perfect set-ups left by Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Next: MCU Better Explained No Way Home's Ending Spell & Made Peter's Fate Darker