Tom Holland's Spider-Man has become a crucial part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since first appearing in 2016's Captain America: Civil War and it's really no wonder Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures want to keep this partnership going.
The wall-crawler's franchise has found an amazing level of success in recent years and Tom Holland was nearing a deal for Spider-Man 4 (and more) shortly before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes began. Needless to say, this character's MCU future now looks bright (much to Avi Arad's continued chagrin).
While Peter Parker eventually passing the mantle to Miles Morales seems like a given, we've come up with some predictions for this web-slinger's more immediate future. From his role in The Avengers franchise to where the next trilogy could take us, we think you'll find these a fun read.
So, to learn more about where Spider-Man could be heading, simply tap on that "Next" button below!
9. Leading The Avengers
Rumour has it Spider-Man will be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty's lead, news which perhaps shouldn't come as a surprise given Peter's hands-on experience with the Multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
While the character's comic book counterpart rarely plays nice with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the MCU version has become a key part of the team and we'd be curious to see how that dynamic has changed now no one remembers who's beneath the mask (which we're sure will cause some trust issues).
Spidey is no longer a kid, so having him step up to lead the charge against Kang after assembling a new roster of Avengers would be majorly satisfying for this character's fans. It's also long overdue in what has the potential to be an amazing showcase for the hero.
8. Symbiote Spider-Man
In Spider-Man: No Way Home's mid-credits scene, Eddie Brock is pulled back to his reality but left a little something behind. A piece of the alien symbiote is now in the MCU, and something tells us it will make its way from Mexico to New York City and find a new host in Peter Parker.
Regardless of how he ultimately encounters the suit, it bonding with the college student would set the stage for Spider-Man to don a powerful new costume that no doubt suits the mood of a hero who finds himself alone after the greatest loss in his young life.
Marvel Studios clearly enjoys switching up Spidey's costumes from movie to movie and heading down this route makes sense. With the black costume, Spider-Man 4 could explore Peter's grief and have him overcome the suit's dark influence to become the best possible version of himself.
7. Scorpion And The Spider-Slayers
Who will be Spider-Man 4's lead villain? What about J. Jonah Jameson? At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, he makes it clear that he believes the wall-crawler should unmask and reveal his identity to the world.
While JJJ may no longer remember who Peter Parker is, we have a feeling the man who outed Spidey as a "killer" would love to be the one to take his mask off. That could prompt Jonah to seek out Spencer Smythe in order to create the Spider-Slayers, with the robots perhaps an existing threat when this story begins.
Ultimately, their inability to stop Spider-Man would be what leads to Jonah outfitting Mac Gargan with a Scorpion suit capable of taking the hero down. Combining these two stories would make for one heck of a movie movie, while Gargan's return may eventually have some venomous ramifications too.
6. The Amazing Spider-Man Returns
We're confident that, at some point in Avengers: Secret Wars (or perhaps even The Kang Dynasty), the three Spider-Men will be reunited after first crossing paths in No Way Home. However, most likely to take centre stage in our opinion is Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man.
Assuming the rumours are true and Kang creates a new Battleworld-style reality in his image, how better to shake things up than by having Spidey remove his mask...only for Garfield's Peter #3 to be staring right back at us!
He could then stick around for a while, giving Holland the chance to take some time off before making a triumphant return. This wouldn't necessarily mean getting The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but we can surely all agree it would be the next best thing.
5. A New Venom
In the comic books, Eddie Brock gives up the Venom symbiote and it ultimately bonds with the criminal once known as Scorpion. Gargan proves himself a far more unhinged and monstrous Venom, becoming a Dark Avenger and one of the toughest opponents Spidey ever faced.
We wouldn't want to rush the MCU getting its own Venom, so the symbiote - rejected by Peter Parker at this stage - finding a downed Mac to set the stage for Spider-Man 5 or 6 would be a great hook. Marvel Studios could even follow this by delivering a Venom/Scorpion hybrid during the final act!
Short of having Tom Hardy play an Eddie Variant in the MCU, this feels like the best possible way to put a fresh spin on the Venom storyline without getting too wrapped up in the Multiverse or a forced crossover with a mediocre Sony franchise.
4. An Unexpected Love Triangle
In the MCU, it's unlikely The Daily Bugle will ever exist as a newspaper. Instead, it's an online news show, and we'd like to spend a little more time behind the scenes there in Spider-Man 4.
Angourie Rice deserves a meatier role in the franchise, so Betty working there - which was once the plan for No Way Home - would be a fun way to achieve that. As for Peter, maybe he'll become Jonah's go-to source for photos and footage of the web-slinger.
With Ned Leeds and Betty once again romantically involved, the hero could find his old best friend unhappy with Peter working so closely with his girlfriend. There's a lot of humour to be mined from a situation like that and this love triangle would play into what it means for none of Spidey's old friends to remember who he is.
3. A Street Level Superhero
As hopeful as we may be about seeing Scorpion, several scoopers seem convinced Spider-Man will next find himself matching wits with New York City's new vigilante-hating Mayor, Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. the Kingpin of Crime).
That surely means a Daredevil team-up is planned, especially as it was in No Way Home we saw Charlie Cox return as Matt Murdock. Either way, as cool as that premise sounds, we're just excited to see Spidey embrace his role as a street-level superhero.
The occasional team-up with The Avengers is fine, but it'll be a breath of fresh air to see Spidey swing through Manhattan, saving regular people and taking on threats which necessarily don't put the entire planet in danger. That means ditching all his Tony Stark tech too, something the last movie's final few moments hinted at.
2. Black Cat
It's about time Felicia Hardy is brought to the big screen, and where better to do it in a movie that looks set to embrace Peter's darker side? With the black costume influencing his actions and Spidey still reeling from the events of his last adventure, Black Cat can enter his life and tempt the vigilante down a few less legal routes.
Felicia is a great character in her own right, and Sony Pictures could use this movie to set the stage for a long-overdue spin-off. We'd rather see Black Cat serve as a supporting character throughout this trilogy, but there's another bold prediction we're going to make in case she doesn't show up.
In the comic books, there were suspicions that Mary Jane Watson had become a crime-fighter known as Jackpot. Well, what if that's the route Zendaya's MJ heads down here? There are ways to make it work, but we'd still rather see Peter's romance with Felicia finally explored on screen, even if it's just for one movie.
1. Friends Reunited
It's entirely possible the door has been closed on Peter Parker ever reuniting with Ned and MJ. Even if they cross paths again, he may choose not to reveal that they once had a history together; still, how satisfying would it be for these friends to be reunited and for Peter and MJ's love to be reignited?
That feels like the natural place to take the story moving forward; Peter and MJ are in love, so the two finding their way back to each other for a truly happy ending would be no bad thing.
Once again, that's not something we'd want Spider-Man 4 to rush to, but the groundwork could be laid here. Perhaps the movie could even end with that revelation, with MJ's memories somehow restored? In the comic books, all it took was for Spider-Man to unmask in front of someone who once knew his secret identity...