If every rumor relating to Spider-Man 4 currently doing the rounds proved to be accurate, we'd be seeing Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's wall-crawlers join forces with Venom, Ghost Rider, Black Cat, Daredevil and The Punisher to face off against Mephisto, Vulture, Knull, and an army of Symbiotes.
The amount of different characters and potential plotlines we've been hearing about suggests that scoopers have been getting wind of various early ideas for a story that still hasn't quite been nailed down, and we may now know why.
According to MTTSH, the most recent version of the script is set to undergo a significant rewrite, and may even be scrapped altogether. Apparently, Tom Holland likes the story, but Kevin Feige does not, and they are "now rewriting it and changing everything. The script isn’t ready yet and won’t be for a while."
The movie has a release date of July 24, 2026, with filming reportedly scheduled to get underway around the middle of next year. There's still time to ensure that these deadlines are met, but depending on how much of the current script needs to be changed, the production could face some delays (Holland also has Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey to shoot next year, which could result in scheduling conflicts).
This wouldn't be the first time those involved with bringing the No Way Home follow-up to the screen had disagreements about the project. Previous reports have claimed that Feige and Sony's Tom Rothman clashed, with the former hoping to scale the Multiverse elements back for a smaller adventure. Rothman, meanwhile, is said to have wanted to capitalize on No Way Home's success by bringing Maguire and Garfield back as their respective takes on Peter Parker.
More recently, we heard that both studios had settled on a mostly grounded story with some Multiversal elements, though the movie was still being described as an "Avengers-level event" up until very recently.
Here's what Holland had to say about the fourth solo Spidey movie in a recent interview.
"We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be. But until we’ve cracked it, we have a legacy to protect. The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing."
It seems they haven't cracked it just yet!
This is very much just a rumor for the time being, but we should have a bit more to go on heading into the new year.