GQ has a great profile up on Tom Holland to promote his new movie Cherry (it's proven to be surprisingly divisive, but you can find our review here), and that includes some comments from his Marvel Cinematic Universe co-star Robert Downey Jr.
For the most part, the prolific actor reflects on auditioning with the then teenager when he hoped to play Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. However, Downey - who spent over a decade playing Iron Man before stepping down - also weighed in on where he sees Holland's career going from here...and how Spider-Man could factor into that.
"Look, Tom won’t be playing Spider-Man when he’s 37. At least I hope not," he started. "And when you’re in the MCU, there’s a feeling of all life beginning with it and ending it. But there’s life outside too. I can confirm this. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt."
"It’s funny, I bumped into Keanu [Reeves] the other day, somewhere in Malibu, I think," Downey continued, "and he told me he’d just been filming The Matrix again; he’d stepped back into that world that he once occupied. I asked him what it felt like: 'Like being in Australia.' What I am saying is there was a Spider-Man before Tom Holland and there will be a Spider-Man after Tom Holland. That’s facts, Tommo. Sorry."
While the site had the Avengers: Endgame star on the phone, they asked him about a possible Iron Man return, and the actor once again teased us all by leaving the door at least slightly ajar for him to step back into the role.
"Well...I have alighted, for now. Real world to save. But never say never."
Fingers crossed.
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our Spider-Man: No Way Home theories!
10. Spider-Man On Trial
Marvel Studios has an annoying habit of sometimes glossing over past events, or just not fully exploring the aftermath of them (it sucks we never got to see Aunt May's reaction to learning her nephew is Spider-Man, for example). With that in mind, we don't expect a potential trial to take too much time.
Our theory is that Spider-Man: No Way Home will begin with Peter being cleared of Mysterio's murder and the attack on London, either thanks to a lack of evidence or some reliable witnesses. Oh, and yes, we fully expect Matt Murdock to be his lawyer. Peter may fool the world into not believing he's Spider-Man or just have a publicly known identity now, but we're not anticipating this being a major plot point.
However, what will be quite significant is how the public views the web-slinger. We know from set photos that some support him, while other believe Mysterio, so this could be a sign of Marvel Studios finally embracing the "Menace" era of Spidey's career thanks primarily to J. Jonah Jameson.
9. Westview Inspired Mysterio's Lies
WandaVision takes place before the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, and it now seems awfully coincidental that Quentin Beck had a huge story prepared about being from another Earth.
At the time, that seemed to be tying into Avengers: Endgame, but would Earth's Mightiest Heroes really have made it common knowledge that they travelled through time to set things right? Either way, Mysterio seems to have some inside information, and we're sure he knows all about Westview.
Depending how things end there, it's possible the world does too, especially if theories that Wanda Maximoff tears a hole in reality are correct. This could require a little retconning - perhaps Mysterio is from another world after all - but it would be very strange for WandaVision not to be referenced.
8. Doctor Strange's New Student
Why would it be strange for WandaVision to not be mentioned in Spider-Man: No Way Home? Well, we know Doctor Strange will be in this movie, while it's common knowledge that the Scarlet Witch will factor into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The TV show and two movies even appear to be forming a loose trilogy of sorts, so there are sure to be plenty of connections here.
Assuming Spider-Man turns to Doctor Strange to help conceal his secret identity (as he once did in the comic books), then it's likely Peter might come face-to-face with the Sorcerer Supreme's new student: Wanda. This would likely be only a very small cameo, but she could be crucial to the plot. Remember, Far From Home took place months after Endgame; WandaVision is just weeks later.
If her powers are out of control following what happened in Westview, perhaps she's the one who inadvertently sends Peter Parker into the Multiverse, leaving him with...no way home. A display of powers like this would nicely set the stage for her unleashing that "madness" in the Doctor Strange sequel too. It could even be that she tries to help Peter, only for it to backfire somehow.
7. Lost In The Multiverse
Homecoming was a reference to, well, the Homecoming dance, but also a cheeky nod to Spider-Man returning home to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Far From Home, meanwhile, saw Peter in unfamiliar surroundings as he travelled the globe helping Nick Fury and squaring off with Mysterio.
No Way Home, however, is a little more ominous. If Peter Parker remains a wanted fugitive for Quentin Beck's murder (the trial we mentioned could just as easily come at the end of the movie), then perhaps he starts off by seeking out Strange's help, ultimately becoming trapped on another world?
That could be the world Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men call home, or even the "SPUMC" where the likes of Venom and Morbius live. Spidey might even hop from world to world in a bid to get back to his own, introducing us to the concept of the Multiverse before Doctor Strange's next solo outing. It's an ambitious plan, but one that could work nicely here.
6. Mysterio Lives
Do you really think we've seen the last of Quentin Beck? It would be a terrible waste for Spider-Man not to come face-to-face with the villain who outed his secret identity to the world, and as the wall-crawler's greatest foe in the MCU, he could very easily be the one pulling the strings here.
The premise of the Spider-Men limited series was that Mysterio had discovered a way to travel between worlds and, as a result, he was able to battle both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. So, what if Beck's lies about being from another part of the Multiverse weren't lies after all? Again, we may need some retconning, but his Tony Stark story may well have been a cover.
Villains like the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Electro are all confirmed or rumoured to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, so perhaps Beck will lead some sort of sinister team...
5. Spider-Men
Tom Holland has vehemently denied that Spider-Man: No Way Home will feature appearances from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, but did you expect him to turn around and confirm their roles?
We're pretty sure that this is one rumour that will come true. As for how they'll factor into proceedings, there are two ways Marvel Studios can handle this. We could land in their worlds immediately after Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, or the years could have passed in real-time.
If it's the latter, major changes are bound to have been made to both characters; Maguire's Peter will have been fighting crime for decades, and likely put through the wringer on countless occasions. Garfield, on the other hand, is right in the midst of his career, years after losing Gwen Stacy. This gives the MCU's Spidey a chance to see how his life could potentially unravel moving forward.
4. A Different Doctor Strange
The first official images released from the threequel show Peter, MJ, and Ned in what appears to be the Sanctum Santorum. However, it's fallen into a state of disrepair, and while that's possibly a result of Doctor Strange's five-year absence from Earth, we have an entirely different theory.
Perhaps this is the Sanctum on another world? Peter could seek out the help of that reality's Ned and MJ to find Strange, only to discover an entirely different version of the man he met in Infinity War.
There have been a tonne of rumours about the MCU introducing alternate versions of familiar faces as Marvel Studios continues exploring the Multiverse, and this could be a great way to play with that idea. A crazy, dishevelled Strange helping Peter would be a blast to see in action here.
3. A Morlun Tease
Kevin Feige appears to be a big fan of J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man run, and No Way Home could be the perfect place to introduce the next major villain he faces. After all, if we're getting the likes of Green Goblin and Electro here, why not do something unexpected in Spider-Man 4?
Morlun was a bad guy who pushed Peter Parker to his limits, pursuing the hero across New York City in a bid to consume his life essence. Spidey barely survived, and it was at this point Marvel Comics started exploring the concept of the web-slinger's powers having some ties to the mystical world. Where better than to first introduce that concept than in a movie with Doctor Strange?
Morlun and the Inheritors could be a massive part of the next Spider-Man movie, and laying the groundwork for that here is something we would definitely like to see in No Way Home.
2. A Multidimensional Sinister Six
Fans have wanted to see Spider-Man battle the Sinister Six on screen for years now, and No Way Home could be the perfect way for Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to finally deliver that.
Some will argue that this should be built to naturally over several years, but that's easier said than done, and would require all of Spidey's villains to end up behind bars together. That's doable, but it would be a hell of a lot easier to just have Spider-Man find himself pitted against a Sinister Six made up of villains from across the entire Multiverse (with some help from two more Peter Parkers).
The MCU's Peter barely survived Vulture and Mysterio, so it wouldn't be that believable for him to defeat six villains at one. That's why this movie makes the most sense to throw them into the mix (with a team consisting of the likes of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus).
1. A Spider-Man Of Two Worlds
When it was revealed that Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios would share Spider-Man, Kevin Feige pointed out that the wall-crawler is now the only superhero with the power to swing between two worlds. At the time, we all assumed he was just referring to Tom Holland's Peter being in the SPUMC and MCU at the same time, but what if Feige was talking a little more literally than that?
In various comic book events which have taken us into the "Spider-Verse," we've seen versions of the hero from across the entire Multiverse utilise devices which means they can literally travel between worlds. If Spider-Man meets all his doppelgängers here, he can meet that crew, and then be tasked with protecting both the home of the Avengers and the one inhabited by Venom and company.
That won't be to everyone's liking, but if it means we get more Spidey on screen...well, we're on board!