Despite Tom Holland's recent claims that he might be done as Peter Parker, the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home all but guarantees Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures will do what's needed to bring him back.
Spider-Man 4 is reportedly already in the early stages of development, and we have some bold predictions for what could happen in that movie. We're basing these on both clues laid down in the character's latest solo outing and the ideas we think would work best in this fourth instalment.
There are some logical places to take the wall-crawler's story after his battle with those sinister villains, and the fact that the world is no longer aware of who Peter Parker is should factor into the movie too. With that in mind, we're delving into possible storylines, villains, twists, and a whole lot more besides.
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6. Symbiote Spider-Man
In Spider-Man: No Way Home's mid-credits scene, Eddie Brock was pulled back to his reality but left a little something behind. A piece of the alien symbiote is now in the MCU, and something tells us it will make its way from Mexico to New York City and find a new host in Peter Parker.
We're going to predict that Peter embarks on some sort of career in photojournalism in this fourth movie, and that could be what takes him south of the border. Bringing the symbiote home with him, the stage would be set for Spider-Man to don a powerful new costume that no doubt suits the mood of a hero who finds himself alone after the greatest loss in his young life.
Marvel Studios clearly enjoys switching up Spidey's costumes from movie to movie, and heading down this route makes perfect sense. With the black costume, Spider-Man 4 could explore Peter's grief and have him overcome the suit's dark influence to become the best possible version of himself.
5. Scorpion And The Spider-Slayers
Who will be Spider-Man 4's lead villain? What about J. Jonah Jameson! At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, he made it clear that he believes the wall-crawler should unmask and reveal his identity to the world. While JJJ may no longer remember who Peter Parker is, we have a feeling the man who outed Spidey as a "killer" would love to be the one to take his mask off.
Jonah turning to Spencer Smythe in order to create the Spider-Slayers is a strong premise, and those robots could have even been in pursuit of Spidey for several months when the movie starts.
Ultimately, their inability to stop Spider-Man would be what leads to Jonah outfitting Mac Gargan with a Scorpion suit capable of taking the hero down. Combining these two stories would make for an amazing movie, and Gargan's return would have some venomous ramifications...
4. A New Venom
In the comic books, Eddie Brock gives up the Venom symbiote and it ultimately bonds with the criminal once known as Scorpion. Gargan proves himself a far more unhinged and monstrous Venom, becoming a Dark Avenger who was one of the toughest opponents Spidey ever faced.
We wouldn't want to rush the MCU getting its own Venom, so the symbiote - rejected by Peter Parker at this stage - finding a downed Mac to set the stage for Spider-Man 5 would be a great hook. Marvel Studios could follow this by delivering a Venom/Scorpion hybrid during the final act, but we'd prefer a slow-burn approach that plays out beyond this fourth movie.
Either way, short of having Tom Hardy play an Eddie Variant in the MCU, this feels like the best possible way to put a fresh spin on the Venom storyline without getting too wrapped up in the Multiverse.
3. An Unexpected Love Triangle
In the MCU, it's unlikely The Daily Bugle will ever exist as a newspaper. Instead, it's an online news show, and we'd like to spend a little more time behind the scenes there in Spider-Man 4.
Picking up a few years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it would be a blast for Betty Brant to be working there full-time (Angourie Rice deserves a meatier role in the franchise) and for Peter Parker to have become Jonah's go-to source for photos and footage of the web-slinger. However, we can see poor Peter finding himself embroiled in an unexpected, unwanted love triangle.
With Ned Leeds and Betty once again romantically involved, the hero could find his old best friend unhappy with Peter working so closely with his girlfriend. There's a lot of humour to be mined from a situation like that, with Ned perceiving the pal he doesn't remember as a love rival. Of course, Peter wouldn't be looking to steal Betty's heart. Instead, the movie would feature a new love interest...
2. Black Cat
It's about damn time Felicia Hardy is brought to the big screen, and where better to do it in a movie that looks set to embrace Peter Parker's darker side? With the black costume influencing his actions and Spider-Man still reeling from the events of his last adventure, now feels like the right time for the Black Cat to enter his life and tempt the vigilante down a few less legal routes.
Felicia is a great character in her own right, and Sony Pictures could use this movie to set the stage for a long-overdue spinoff. We'd rather see Black Cat serve as a supporting character throughout this trilogy, but there's another bold prediction we're going to make in case she doesn't show up.
In the comic books, there were suspicions that Mary Jane Watson had become a crime-fighter known as Jackpot. Well, what if that's the route Zendaya's MJ heads down here? There are ways to make that work, but we'd still rather see Peter's romance with Felicia finally explored on screen.
1. Friends Reunited
It's entirely possible the door has been closed on Peter Parker ever reuniting with Ned and MJ. Even if they cross paths again, he may choose not to reveal that they once had history together, but how satisfying would it be for these friends to be reunited and for Peter and MJ's love to be reignited?
That feels like the natural place to take the story moving forward; Peter and MJ are in love, so the two finding their way back to each other for a true happy ending would be no bad thing.
Once again, that's not something we'd want Spider-Man 4 to rush to, but the groundwork could be laid here. Perhaps the movie could even end with that revelation, with MJ's memories somehow restored? In the comic books, all it took was for Spider-Man to unmask in front of someone who once knew his secret identity, so there's a chance that could be the flaw in Doctor Strange's spell here too.