We have an update on Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios' search for a director to take the helm of Spider-Man 4, and it seems Ms. Marvel and Bad Boys: Ride or Die filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah may indeed be in contention to land the gig.
According to insider Daniel Richtman, El Arbi and Fallah - who infamously helmed the Batgirl movie Warner Bros. decided to scrap as a tax write-off - are "in the mix" to direct the Spider-Man: No Way Home follow-up, but it sounds like there are other candidates.
Richtman also indicates that directors with "a current connection with Sony and Marvel Studios" are being looked at, and the studios may also be focused on enlisting "an indie director like they did with Jon Watts."
It's worth noting that Fallah was asked about the Spider-Man 4 rumors during a recent Bad Boys: Ride or Die event, and responded: "I can't talk about that."
Other names that have popped up as possible directors over the past few weeks are Justin Lin, Drew Goddard, and Adam Wingard, who recently parted ways with Legendary's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire sequel.
Rumors aside, we still know very little about how Spider-Man 4 is shaping up. Sony's Tom Rothman and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige are believed to have had some disagreements when it comes to the overall plot, with the latter hoping to scale the Multiverse elements back for a smaller story. Rothman, meanwhile, is said to want to capitalize on No Way Home's success by bringing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back as their respective takes on Peter Parker.
Holland will, of course, return as the MCU's Spidey alongside Zendaya as MJ, but the actor is believed to be "growing wary" of playing the iconic hero, so this could be his final solo outing as the wall-crawler - though he will almost certainly play a part in one of both of the upcoming Avengers films.
"We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be," Holland said in a recent interview. "But until we’ve cracked it, we have a legacy to protect," Holland explained. "The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing."
No Way Home scribes Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are currently working on the script, but we still don't know which of the Wall-Crawler's fearsome foes will be causing problems for Peter and co. Most of Spidey's major bad guys have already been utilized in previous films (Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, etc), but a recent rumor claimed that the still untitled sequel will feature a villain we haven't seen in live-action yet.