Spider-Man: No Way Home is easily the web-slinger's biggest movie to date, and given the sheer number of surprises, it's impossible to imagine how the planned Spider-Man 4 will top it. The temptation will surely be to go bigger, but producer Amy Pascal has another, much better idea.
"Not every Spider-Man movie is going to be a multitude of characters," she explained during a recent interview with The New York Times. "That approach was right for this one."
"You can’t think about topping yourself in terms of spectacle," the veteran producer said of the Spider-Man franchise's future. "Otherwise movies just get larger and larger for no reason, and it’s not a good result. But we do want to always try and top ourselves in terms of quality and emotion."
While it's obviously too soon for Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios to reveal anything about Spider-Man 4, Pascal went on to emphasise the importance of Peter Parker to any upcoming stories. "Kevin [Feige] and I never want to lose sight of one thing: Peter Parker. That he’s a normal kid," Pascal explained. "That he is orphaned over and over again"
"That he’s a teenager, so everything in his life is at a heightened pitch and everything matters more than anything. That he’s fueled by goodness and guilt. That he’s striving for a greater cause, and he’s vilified by the press." After watching Spider-Man: No Way Home, we're sure you'll agree that there's a lot a fourth chapter can do with each of the points Pascal chooses to highlight here.
The biggest question for many fans will be who the next villain is, especially after this instalment goes through so many of them. There are still plenty of compelling possibilities, though, including some who still haven't make their respective big screen debuts (Scorpion instantly springs to mind, for example).
What do you hope to see next from Spider-Man on the big screen?