It sounds like Spider-Man 4 might be in worse shape than we realized.
At this point, several scoopers have claimed to have heard from reliable sources that the story still hasn't come together, indicating that the script might be undergoing a major overhaul due to differences of opinion between star Tom Holland and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige. Now, Daniel Richtman has weighed-in with an update.
According to the insider, the movie "is still a long way from starting production" because "there isn’t a finalized shooting draft yet."
"With sky-high expectations following the success of No Way Home, Feige and Sony felt the pressure to step up their game and deliver something even better. I hear the writing team is hard at work reworking the plot to address these issues and improve the story."
The movie has a release date of July 24, 2026, with filming reportedly scheduled to get underway around August of next year. There's still time to ensure that these deadlines are met, but Richtman believes delays are possible (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 are still trying to figure out what "the right thing" is. A number of rumors relating to the story have been doing the rounds, and if all of them are to be believed, we'll be seeing 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.
Hopefully, those involved with Spidey 4 will come up with ideas that suit everyone and the project won't be hit with any significant setbacks.