On Friday, it was officially announced that Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios worked out a new deal that allows Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to appear in one more Marvel/Disney movie along with having Kevin Feige/Marvel Studios produce Spider-Man 3.
Along with the announcement was a quote from Kevin Feige that suggests that we might be seeing Spider-Man crossover with the Sony films at the same time as the MCU.
FEIGE: “He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”
Deadline hinting/speculating that Spider-Man appearing in both universes could be happening.
We hear that as Sony progresses their own Marvel universe with titles likes Venom 2 and Sinister Six, and Disney/Marvel their own, there could be a “call and answer” between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what is would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe. Details on that are still early.
This has us considering what those crossovers could like and what MCU characters may interact with Peter Parker.
SPIDER-MAN 3 CROSSOVERS
With Spider-Man 3 expected to begin shooting by next spring/summer, there is an assumption that with the film being still set within the MCU we’ll still see Parker mingling with those characters.
There are plenty of Marvel Studios owned characters that have and haven’t previously interacted with Peter Parker that could be appearing in Spider-Man 3. Those may include Happy Hogan, Petter Potts, Doctor Strange, Sam Wilson, Jimmy Woo, Thunderbolt Ross, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Professor Hulk, and Carol Danvers.
I also wouldn’t be terribly shocked if Peter’s legal defense is headed-up by Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk, given that Marvel has already announced that she’ll be getting her own solo series on Disney+ having Jennifer introduced in a movie like Spider-Man 3 could help gather some extra interest in the upcoming show.
Another interesting new hero coming to the MCU is Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, a character that is known for his ties to spy agencies such as MI6. It wouldn’t be out of left field to see him either being tasked to help or track down Spider-Man for government agencies given his own superhuman abilities.
Shang-Chi will be the first MCU film to be released in 2021 and audiences would be well aware of him come Spider-Man 3’s release in the summer of 2021.
Also, allowing Marvel Studios to adapt more Spider-Man villains could finally give us a version of The Sinister Six and might also help setup Dark Reign/Dark Avengers.
It’s hard to argue that Marvel Studios has been able to authentically adapt villains such as The Vulture and Mysterio, moving forward with the others or a version of that super-villain team would likely make fans happy. Kraven The Hunter (getting his own solo film at Sony) has been a character everyone from Tom Holland to director Jon Watts has been mentioning in interviews that they’d like to see used eventually.
SONY UNIVERSE CROSSOVERS
Cameos don’t seem too farfetched for projects like Morbius that have already completed principal photography earlier this year and while I know many fans assume that Venom 2 will co-star Tom Holland, the film begins shooting in November (a script has been locked months back) and likely won’t have Spider-Man in a large role if any (another place for a cameo).
There is also the possibility that Sony might pivot to make Venom 2 an R-rated film, it was previously reported they considered it for the first installment and could decided to go that route with the sequel (unlikely as that might be). If that were to happen there is almost a zero percent chance that Spider-Man is allowed to show up in a project like that as to project the brand and avoid confusing parents.
Venom 2 also would be better suited to simply help introduce Carnage as the big-bad of Sony’s universe.
I still think a massive event film set in the Sony Cinematic Universe before Spider-Man’s full-fledged crossover is the smartest way to go. That project could be that adaptation of the Maximum Carnage comics where Spider-Man, Venom, Morbius, Black Cat, and others team-up to fight a super-villain team led by Carnage.
Something that would certainly incorporate all the characters they’ll be giving feature films including Jared Leto’s Morbius and Tom Hardy’s Venom. Not to mention they could insert others like Silver Sable and Kraven The Hunter if they wanted to.
I still think making Maximum Carnage an event film is the way to go as you can introduce the character in Venom 2 and then allow him to make a triumphant return with a bigger threat, not unlike Marvel’s Loki in Thor to The Avengers.
It’ll be interesting to see if Sony will ultimately use Sinister Six in Spider-Man 3 or will resurrect the Drew Goddard movie project that would give the baddies their own feature film. That project was killed after Amazing Spider-Man 2 led to the MCU reboot.
The Madame Web movie could also have something to do with Peter Parker moving between the two worlds as the titular Cassandra Webb like Doctor Strange/Scarlet Witch has the ability to transport Spider-Man into different realities/dimensions bringing Spider-Verse into the live-action side of things with their own Multiverse.
MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE CROSSOVER
Despite some recent rumblings that Marvel is looking to write-out Parker out of the MCU in the next two movies, we are likely 2-4 years away from ultimately knowing if the new Sony/Marvel deal will get an extension (box office returns on Spider-Man 3 in the summer of 2021 will likely be part of the decision).
Because of this, I wouldn’t automatically believe that this unnamed MCU movie Spider-Man will officially appear in will actually be his final bow in the Marvel universe.
I’m not sure why Marvel Studios would place Spider-Man in a solo movie as a supporting lead when they could wait and put him in the next giant event film. This would allow him to interact with new characters that have joined the MCU such as The Fantastic Four and X-Men.
It’s hard to assume what that event project could be outside of potential projects that could announced down the line such as Secret Wars, Secret Invasion, Young Avengers, and The Ultimates.
The Russo Brothers have previously stated on multiple occasions that Secret Wars would be something that could draw them back to the MCU after their break to make projects like Tom Holland’s crime flick Cherry.
It’s also possible they’re going to attempt to make some sort of Secret Invasion event film given that Spider-Man: Far From Home was seemingly teasing that at the end.
We’ll likely start learning concrete details concerning Spider-Man 3 soon as filming is expected to begin in the spring/summer of 2020 with a release date of July 16th, 2021.
Jon Watts reportedly in final talks to return to direct.
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