Marvel Has Already Made A Decision About Spider-Man 4
Marvel and Sony have already made a decision about the fate of Spider-Man 4. This comes on the heels of No Way Home's release this week
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Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently crushing it in theaters through its first couple of days on the big screen, taking the movie world by storm and becoming a box office blockbuster of the highest order. Sometimes when a movie comes along that’s this big it’s tough to sit with the moment and just relish what a cinematic feat we are getting to witness. And with the lights shining so brightly on the movie and the franchise as a whole, Marvel head Kevin Feige wasted no time in letting fans that this was far from the end for the franchise. He confirmed that Spider-Man 4 is already in the works.
Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal spoke with The New York Times this week while promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home and, of course, the subject of Spider-Man 4 came up. Even with a massive opening and an “end” to the current trilogy of movies, folks are always curious about what the future holds in their favorite franchises. This one is no exception and there has been speculation that things could look very different in future iterations. Feige spoke on the prospect and what the studio is thinking when it comes to the next movie. Here’s part of what he had to say:
“Amy and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next, which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after Far From Home. That will not be occurring this time.”
Kevin Feige doesn’t mince words here about Spider-Man 4 and it’s clear that they are going to ramp up production on that movie maybe even sooner than later. And in terms of “trauma” for fans, Feige is referring to the disagreements between Sony and Marvel following the second movie in the standalone franchise. Because it’s a joint production between the two studios, there was consternation about profit-sharing on future endeavors. For a bit, this left the fate of No Way Home somewhat in doubt. It’s easy to forget now, but it wasn’t totally clear that the movie would happen under the current deal.
But things were worked out and both Feige and Pascal referenced a good working relationship with Sony right now. That’s important because it takes both parties agreeing on the movie choices and money in order for it to happen. But considering the overwhelming success of Spider-Man: No Way Home already, it would feel nuts to have this be the end of the line for the franchise. Getting the question out of the way early on Spider-Man 4 was a no-brainer considering the dollars at stake.
Possibly the bigger question about Spider-Man 4 is whether star Tom Holland would even be taking part. The actor has made it clear in recent weeks that acting might not be part of his short (or maybe long) term future. He has no other movies in pre-production right now. And contractually, this latest movie is the last one on the books between the studio and star. Of course, a Spider-Man 4 need not include Holland and there are already paths for the franchise to pivot. But man, would it ever feel odd if that was the case.
In all, it’s not a surprise at all that Spider-Man 4 is already in active discussions between the studios. One need only look at the box office receipts from this opening weekend to know why all parties would be incentivized to get another movie up on the screen in short order. The question now is just what that story would look like.
