Swinging from the dusty depths and cobwebbed corners of the internet, we separate near facts from pure fiction in a dream storyline for the beloved web-slinging superhero, Spider-Man.
The last time we caught up with Spider-Man, he was swinging through the skyline of midtown Manhattan, taking a selfie and scooping up MJ for a date only the web-slinger is capable of. All was well, it seemed, as they made a full stop on the corner of West 23rd street and 8th avenue—or so we thought—because just as he was about to man the streets of New York, a news report of Mysterio in a glitch-ridden Hail Mary attempt to tarnish the reputation of the superhero was broadcast for all to see. To make things worse, the villain further steered the compromised revelation from apparent rumor to a perception of fact by revealing the identity of Peter Parker. That’s right, Spidey, WTF.
Since then, the Spider-Man franchise was threatened to detach itself from the Marvel Cinematic Universe following a potential studio fallout with Sony, but thankfully, the day was ultimately saved, and if the man behind the mask is to be trusted, Tom Holland himself had a hand in saving the movie deal in the lockout. Oh, and just as things were about to go swimmingly, the celebrated and highly anticipated new chapters in the MCU canon have come face-to-face with an unforeseen and unequalled foe in the form of the pandemic, stalling all its releases and left to gather cobwebs until the next year. With this drought of crime-fighting, inter-dimensional traveling, and existential crisis bearing superheroes, it is understandable how we will take just about anything we can from them, even if it means watching interviews of the Avengers for the nth time on YouTube or hopping on the make believe train at a moment’s notice, which often turns out to be mere rumors circulating the drivel of the internet.
With Spidey senses tingling and a flinging of spider webs to bridge the gap between Spider-Man: Far From Home and the yet-to-be-titled third installment currently in production, there have been quite a few stories making the rounds lately. From the downright wishful thinking to the possibility closing in on reality, we have scoured the world wide web for bits and pieces of information that could connect the dots of Phase 4 of the MCU and well, tide us over until its scheduled release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021.
This is everything we know about Spider-Man 3 so far.
Tom Holland And The Gang Are Back
Fresh from their memorable and eventful European school trip (an understatement, really), there will be a lot more to navigate through in the upcoming Spider-Man flick, especially since Peter Parker will now have to deal with his public unmasking, as well of a posthumous defamation of character by Quentin Beck. On top of that, he is still a teenager with an entire ecosystem of emotions to deal with. “Zendaya will most definitely be in the film,” disclosed Tom Holland, who will of course be back to suit up as the amazing Spider-Man, in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “As to the relationship between Peter and MJ, I’m not too sure what it will be.”
Joining the two are Jacob Batalon as Ned, Marissa Tomei as Aunt May, and with Jon Watts at the helm. Filming has already begun in New York and in Atlanta, with Tom Holland, king of spoilers himself, revealing the recent Marvel-favored state as the location of the film in an Instagram Story sometime in October.
Doctor Strange Steps In As Mentor To Spider-Man
Much of Spider-Man: Far From Home saw Peter Parker reeling from the loss of his mentor, Tony Stark. Following the late Avenger’s great sacrifice in Endgame, the young superhero was left to basically fend for himself on the heroics, which saw him grappling with the high-pressured possibility of assuming the position left vacant by Iron Man.
While under the bounds of sworn secrecy, the super sleuths of the internet have deduced the involvement of the Sorcerer Supreme in the narrative of Spider-Man and Peter Parker, because in an earnest social media post of a trailer stationed in Atlanta, it was traced to the personal hairstylist and makeup artist of Benedict Cumberbatch, Donald McInnes. With his apparent involvement in the story, Marvel is potentially setting up the stage to explore the all-important multiverse arc that is not only closely linked to Doctor Strange, but could very well posit the crossing of multi-dimension parallels as successfully essayed in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse.
Doctor Octopus And Electro Are Believed To Be Involved, Potentially Wreaking Havoc As The Sinister Six
Okay, so technically, Spider-Man foes Dr. Otto Octavio and Electro were things of the past in the previous silver screen incarnations of the young man bitten by a radioactive spider and launched into the raucous of the superhero realm. However, it seems that either these beloved villains are clawing their way back to the narrative by way of the multiverse transference or it is a stroke of casting genius that only makes sense despite any perceived allegiance to the original trilogy or the botched reboot starring Andrew Garfield.
Presumably returning to the fold are the Alfred Molina, who was spotted on the Spider-Man: No Way Home set doing choreography work and filming scenes as the brilliant but tortured scientist-turned-metal-wrought-tentacled-menace, Doctor Octopus, and Jamie Foxx, who lit up the screens as Electro. There is no final word on whether he’ll remain blue or not, but if we were to base it off a now deleted Instagram post, things are looking up for the poorly handled character during his time in the Spider-Man universe.
With these baddies more or less locked and loaded, Marvel could also be setting up the stage for the Sinister Six, the malevolent unit of supervillains assembled by Doctor Octopus, that include Mysterio, Vulture, Sandman, Kraven The Hunter, and Electro. It has been floated in the past that a joining of forces was a possibility the filmmakers wanted to explore, which is why, with the exception of Kraven, every infamous anti-hero has squared-off with Spider-Man. Fanning the flames of this rabid fan theory, director Jon Watts is known to want to have a stab at fleshing out Kraven during his tenure at the Spider-verse.
This Could Introduce Daredevil To The MCU
Despite it being a potential case of the blind leading the blind in the context of the known iron-clad secrecy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there have been enlightening reports that the vision impaired vigilante is dusting himself off from the wreck of its doomed time on Netflix and jumping into the big screen very soon.
As the multiverse theory rings louder and louder with each confirmation from reliable sources of various news outlets, we could expect an arc that explores Peter Parker’s conundrum as the masked web-slinger. Compounded by the cliffhangers of the previous film, he could potentially be consumed by the burden of being a superhero and spiral into some sort of stupor. Fans, including the most recent Daredevil himself, Charlie Cox, are hypothesizing that Matt Murdoch could prove to be pivotal for character development. “As a fan of the Marvel movies, I’ve loved the little stuff where they pop up here and there but because we were on Netflix, we weren’t able to do as much for legal reasons, I don’t know why,” Cox details. “But I love the idea of Jessica and Matt showing up in the background or Matt as a lawyer advising Peter Parker. That’d be really, really cool.”
Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Kirsten Dunst, and Emma Stone Are Reported To Make A Special Comeback
Following the runaway success of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse in both the commercial and critical sense (it did win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film), there have been many flames of theories being fueled by fervent fans on the near truth that is the multiverse parallels manifested in everything from lengthy reddit threads, internet fodder, and fancy edits. This wishful thinking has only been bolstered by Tom Holland claiming that the story of Spider-Man 3 is, in his own words, “absolutely insane.”
Shaping up to be an ambitious gathering of beloved characters and Hollywood superstars in the same vein as that of Endgame, it is reported that the OGs of the franchise, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, as well as Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are all in serious talks to slip into the skin-tight cartoon red and blue Spidey suit and their all-important love interests. While it is said that Andrew Garfield is more or less a done deal, Tobey Maguire is still in active talks. Meanwhile, Emma Stone supposedly dropped out of another film to take part of this cinematic history.
Seeing so many big and highly capable names onboard, there is a fear that their presence could be nothing more than gratuitous and patronizing cameos. But with a story so rich, so full of potential, and so human, there are many ways for each to shine, all while keeping the main Spider-Man at the center of it all. Besides, if Into The Spider-Verse was able to successfully realize the multiple dimensions into a cohesive and compelling whole, then it is possible with the prospect of a multiverse in the exposition of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
If only for seeing Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland in one screen together, we would gladly latch on to any Spidey and swing into 2021.
