With Avengers: Doomsday set to begin production in a matter of months, we're bracing ourselves for a lot of rumours about Marvel Studios' plans for that and Avengers: Secret Wars heading into the New Year.
There's already a lot of chatter online about both projects; the consensus right now seems to be that Doomsday will pit Earth 616's Mightiest Heroes against Doctor Doom before a roster of Multiversal characters assemble in the Battleworld-set sequel.
It's also been claimed that Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man will have a major role in Secret Wars, with Tom Holland's Peter Parker currently set as Doomsday's lead.
Today, @MyTimeToShineH commented on a GIF of them and Tobey Maguire's web-slinger by saying, "They’ll be forced to face off against each other in Secret Wars."
This could be (another) lucky guess or a hint that Secret Wars will be less an adaptation of the 2015 story and more akin to the 1980s version we know the Russo Brothers grew up adoring and are desperate to adapt. In that, The Beyonder forces heroes and villains to fight, though we're sure a Multiversal spin can be put on the concept.
In other wild Spider-Man-related news, there's been chatter over the weekend about Chris Pratt being in talks to reprise his role as Star-Lord in Spider-Man 4. Alas, we're hearing that's false.
Original plans called for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton to helm what was then called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Plans changed following Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and the Jonathan Majors controversy, and Cretton has moved on to Spider-Man 4.
As part of the Multiverse Saga's overhaul, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU as the aforementioned Doctor Doom.
Discussing that reunion with GamesRadar+ at MCM Comic Con 2024 last month, Joe Russo said, "We're all very close. We had been working on another project before Marvel approached all of us - so we're working on another project with Robert - and there was a story that evolved through conversations that we got very excited about. Because it's always got to be the story."
We still don't know how Marvel Studios will justify Downey's return or how Victor Von Doom's similarity to Tony Stark will be explained (if, indeed, it's explained at all). Despite that, the filmmaker remains confident that these movies will deliver a worthwhile story.
"Why would we come back if we didn't feel like we had a story that had that possibility of being on an equal footing with Infinity War and Endgame unless there's a kernel there for an idea that's really explosive?" Joe asked.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released in May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive in May 2027. If the three Spider-Men are forced to fight, who do you see coming out on top?