After a nearly five-year absence from the MCU, Tom Holland is scheduled to return as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2026 for the final act of the Multiverse Saga. He’ll return as the friendly neighborhood web-slinger in Avengers: Doomsday, his first appearance since Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, alongside Doctor Strange and more heroes as a new threat approaches. That being, the end of the Multiverse as they know it. And in just two short months after that film’s release, Holland will star in his untitled Spider-Man 4 sequel. The film will be helmed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), who steps in for the director of the previous Spider-Man trilogy, Jon Watts, after he bowed out.
The 4th installment in the MCU Spider-Man franchise has a very uphill task ahead of itself, as it will not only have to address the ending of No Way Home but also incorporate the events of Avengers: Doomsday. The story, penned by Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna (who wrote 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home) is being kept under wraps for now, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from turning round and round on social media.
Rumors from all corners have spread regarding the film’s story, ranging from a “Devil’s Reign” inspired street-level story that stems from the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again show, coming in March 2025, to a multiversal adventure that’s supposed to be on an even bigger scale than No Way Home and connects to the symbiote storyline and could incorporate Tom Hardy’s Venom and even the King in Black, Knull.
In a previous article, I explored a theory that could explore a relatively grounded story for the upcoming Spider-Man 4 film amidst the whole dilemma with the Multiverse. When writing that theory, I pushed myself to think outside the box of what I believed would happen and try to go a different route to please the audience that has wanted to see a more grounded story for a while. Now, I’ve decided to focus on a theory that I suspect could be the driving story for the upcoming film, focusing more on the multiverse aspect. But to dive in, we must look back at where we left Peter off.
[Warning: This article will address spoilers from Venom: The Last Dance.]
Addressing Doctor Strange’s Spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home
In No Way Home, Peter Parker and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) tampered with the stability of the Multiverse when they used the Runes of Kof-Kol, a spell that would make everyone forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man. However, Sorcerer Supreme Wong warned them about the dangers of that spell, as it “travels the borders between known and unknown realities.” When the spell went wrong, the boundaries between universes became perforated, allowing characters from other universes who knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man into Earth-616.
By the film’s end, Peter asks Doctor Strange to erase him from everyone’s memory “everywhere” to preserve the Multiverse as inhabitants from every other universe start converging on Earth 616. Thus, this preserves the barriers between universes and the stability in the Multiverse. However, this begs the question: What would happen if Strange’s spell was reversed?
In a September Q&A, I was asked about Stephen Strange’s spell and mentioned that it would be explored (and eventually broken) in a future Marvel project. If Strange’s spell breaks, does this mean that the stability of the spell would break, thus causing another massive incursion of worlds, converging onto Earth-616?
There’s a very good chance of this happening, and I suspect it could occur in Avengers: Doomsday. After all, Peter Parker and Doctor Strange are rumored to be two of the central characters of the upcoming Avengers film, so their last interaction in No Way Home is one of the story points that need to be addressed here. It would also be a way to cause the final incursion that would supposedly end the Multiverse (of course, before Doom uses the remnants of those universes to create his version of reality with Battleworld).
Why do the symbiote storyline now?
Marvel and Sony may differ in figuring out what type of story needs to be told for Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which often leads to concessions on both sides of the aisle. According to my sources, the inclusion of Eddie Brock in No Way Home and the brief appearance by him and Venom were always meant to lead to something more down the line. And the indications have been more than evident.
First, a bit of comic book history. The symbiote debuted in the Secret Wars comic storyline in the 1980s, where Spider-Man first came into contact with it, and we got the iconic black-and-white suit. It would be a nice tribute to have a somewhat comic-inspired scene where Peter obtains the symbiote during a story arc inspired by the comic storyline in which they first meet. So I fully expect Peter to get the symbiote suit sometime during this final arc of the Multiverse Saga, at the earliest, in Avengers: Doomsday, most likely in Spider-Man 4, or, at the latest, in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Secondly, the post-credit scene for No Way Home that showed that the Venom remnant due to viral shedding that is on Earth-616 is still there. (No, Venom: The Last Dance did not retcon this scene). And its main goal will most likely be to find Eddie.
But now you might be asking yourself, the symbiote is in Mexico, in another universe. How exactly will it find Eddie? Remember how symbiotes have access to a hive mind, where they can access each other’s thoughts and memories? And the last thing Venom and Eddie were doing was heading to New York before being interrupted for their adventure in The Last Dance. So it’s likely the Venom remnant will be heading there as Riot did from Malaysia to San Francisco for 6 months in the first Venom movie, going from host to host until reaching his destination. This increases the chances of the symbiote and Spider-Man interacting.
Third, as beautiful and heartfelt as it was to hear Maroon 5’s “Memories” play over a montage of Venom’s best moments at the end of The Last Dance, we know that this isn’t the end of Eddie Brock and Venom’s story. After all, Venom himself said it wasn’t the end; “it was just goodbye for now.” So, chances are they’ll see each other again.
Not to mention, there is also a Venom remnant in Area 51, which General Strickland took from the bar in Mexico from Venom’s universe, which was about to infuse with a cockroach during the second post-credit scene before the scene cut to black. This remnant will likely also aim to find Eddie in his universe in New York. Now that we’ve established how the symbiote will reach both Peter and Eddie in their respective universes, this will beg the question: How will they meet?
Venom: The Last Dance and the Future of The Sony Marvel Universe | The Cosmic Circle Podcast
Weaving the web together for Spider-Man 4
This is where the main points of my theory start to join together like a beautiful web. So many different points that seem disconnected could become central parts of a larger story. When we last see Eddie in Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie reaches the Statue of Liberty in New York.
What other significant Marvel moment occurred at the Statue of Liberty in another universe? The final spell in No Way Home, where everyone forgot Peter Parker was Spider-Man, which sealed the barrier between Earth-616 and the rest of the other universes from the impending incursion. Lady Liberty is the epicenter of the possible final incursion that will occur come Doomsday and Secret Wars. If Eddie and Spider-Man are both in New York or, better yet, at the Statue of Liberty where we last saw Eddie, their chances of encountering each other increases since the main entry point for the incursion will most likely be New York. Based on these story points, this is how we can approach the premise for Spider-Man 4.
After Avengers: Doomsday occurs, and the final incursion plays out, the film will likely end with Doctor Doom creating a brand-new world, which would be the equivalent of Doom’s Battleworld from the Secret Wars 2015 comic storyline. Suppose we were to adapt that part of the story into the MCU lore. In that case, Doom will likely seek out Loki at the Citadel at the End of Time and take over Loki’s role as the God of Stories, weaving together a new reality using the different timelines (and universes) to create a new Sacred Timeline.
This new “Sacred Timeline” will likely incorporate elements from multiple universes into one Earth, potentially bringing in variants not in the MCU timeline, such as Deadpool, Wolverine, X-23, Gambit, Venom, and who knows who else might pop in? Following Doom’s creation of the new Sacred Timeline, this new Earth would allow Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock to interact. And with Brock reuniting with Venom, the more likely probability is that the Codex will come into play once again, which brings us to our film’s most likely antagonist, Knull.
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Knull, The King in Black, The God of Symbiotes
Andy Serkis’ role as Knull in Venom: The Last Dance left much to be desired by fans. The God of Symbiotes played the role of the looming antagonist in the film, essentially setting him up for a more significant role down the line. His intentions are clear. He wants to take over all the worlds in his known universe and bring them to darkness.
Given his power set and ability, one has to wonder what would have occurred if Knull had discovered more than one universe. The potential of Knull seeking to snuff out all glimmers of light from the Multiverse would be quite the compelling plot point for a Marvel movie at this stage in the game. The biggest complaint I’ve heard about this is that Knull isn’t a Spider-Man villain, so why would he show up in a Spider-Man movie? Maybe the idea isn’t so farfetched if done correctly, and Marvel has already done it once before: a team-up title.
Spider-Man 4: Spider-Man & Venom
Making Spider-Man 4 a team-up title between Spider-Man and Venom, in the same fashion Deadpool 3 was Deadpool and Wolverine, could be an instant billion-dollar moneymaker for both Marvel and Sony at the box office. This dream matchup would fulfill the dreams of many Spider-Man and Marvel fans, who have always wanted to see these iterations of Spider-Man and Venom clash on the big screen. It would also give rise to the perfect team-up opportunity between the two when they face off against Knull.
It might not seem like a good match for the plot at first, but when you see how well Deadpool and Wolverine handled Cassandra Nova as their antagonist and made her a very big threat to the Multiverse, Knull suddenly doesn’t seem so farfetched. It’s all a matter of the story they want to tell. And I’m sure that whatever story Marvel and Sony have cooked up for Spider-Man 4, it will be spectacular.
Theory: Spider-Man 4’s Grounded Story
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