Going by Bob Iger’s most recent comments on the shape of things to come for Marvel, gone are the days when the MCU would throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Instead, we’re likely to get a steady stream of follow-ups to established, tried-and-true franchises. So Iron Man, Captain America, Deadpool, and, of course, Spider-Man. Unfortunately, although you’d think riding the coat-tails of No Way Home would come easy, all the signs are pointing to Spider-Man 4 proving difficult to produce. In fact, it sounds like it’s the unfortunate child caught up in a parental argument.
We were given a big clue that things on the Spider-Man front were progressing slower than anticipated when Tom Holland signed up for a return to the stage that would keep him busy until the second half of 2024. The creative direction for the wallcrawler’s next outing has yet to be decided upon. According to the latest rumored intel, this may be due to too many cooks being in the kitchen. If there is any truth to this info, it sounds like Marvel and Sony are simply not seeing eye to eye and it remains to be seen who’s going to win the fight.
Marvel and Sony are rumored to have very different visions for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man return
As per CanWeGetSomeToast, Sony is eager to get Spider-Man 4 in cinemas for 2025. That’s hardly surprising, considering the studio is eager to get some of that sweet, sweet spidey money after Madame Web has sunk at the box office. On the other hand, Kevin Feige is keen to press pause for a moment, so that he can be as hands-on as possible. The Marvel prez is allegedly spread incredibly thin right now, what with The Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and various TV projects in the works, so he wouldn’t have the time to help develop this new Spider-Man film.
DanielRPK has corroborated this claim, with some additional intel. According to his scoop, Sony’s Tom Rothman wants to get Jon Watts back as director, given that he’s an extremely reliable pair of hands for the franchise at this point. Once again, however, Feige is reportedly on the opposite side as he’s said to want Wants to graduate onto other MCU properties, which is only fueling speculation that he could be entrusted to direct Avengers 5 or 6. Rothman is supposedly dead-set on making Spider-Man 4 happen as soon as possible, though, whether Feige can be involved or not.
As always, this is just scuttlebutt so everything could be hunky-dory behind the scenes for all we know, but it has to be said that this is only the latest indication that Spider-Man’s return is causing headaches for all involved. Don’t forget, prior rumors claimed Marvel and Sony were fighting over whether to bring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back or not. By the sounds of things, there is a chance we could get Spider-Man 4 in 2025 — probably December, if at all — but who knows whether it’ll live up to the heights of the Homecoming trilogy.