We'd hoped to end this week with a Fantastic Four casting announcement; instead, we're probably about to ruin a lot of people's Fridays.
Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios first reached a deal to share Spider-Man in 2015. With that, the stage was set for Peter Parker to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War. After lending Iron Man a helping hand, Tom Holland's web-slinger went on to star in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
However, when cameras were rolling on Spider-Man: Far From Home, Sony execs decided they no longer needed Marvel Studios' help and, with that, Spidey was set to swing back into what's become known as the SSU (Sony's Spider-Man Universe).
Had that happened, Spider-Man: No Way Home would have looked a lot different and we still don't know how Peter no longer being in the same world as The Avengers was going to be explained. Common sense eventually prevailed and a new deal was struck to keep the wall-crawler in the MCU. For now, at least.
It's an agreement which clearly won't last forever, and scooper Daniel Richtman - who broke the Pedro Pascal/Mister Fantastic casting news - is today reporting that Spider-Man 4 will feature more connections to the SSU. The idea is for this to pave the way to a potential merger of that world and the MCU.
What we don't know is whether this means Peter is heading to the same world as Venom and Morbius or if those characters are being pulled into Earth-616 in time for Avengers: Secret Wars.
We'd like to think Sony plans on letting Marvel Studios take charge of its Marvel slate, but that's wishful thinking. Instead, they likely want the hero back and this is the beginning of the end of his time in the MCU. With that in mind, chances are we're getting Spider-Man 4, an appearance from Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield in the next Avengers movies, and then it's back to Sony he goes as Kevin Feige shifts focus to the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
There have been signs something Multiversal could be in the works for the next Spider-Man adventure as it was recently reported that Michael Keaton's Vulture will return (the last time we saw him, he'd been stranded in the same reality as Morbius). Some scoopers have also hinted that the movie will feature Maguire's Peter Parker.
This likely means a street-level adventure is off the table, a shame when Spider-Man: No Way Home so perfectly set the stage for the franchise to head down that route. Still, it's early days and nothing is confirmed so we'll have to wait and see where this takes us.
Spider-Man 4 is currently expected to swing into theaters in 2025.