Spider-Man has one of the most impressive roster of villains in comic book history, but Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin, has always been considered the wall-crawler's biggest and most popular foe, followed closely by Doctor Octopus.
These characters were memorably brought to life by Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina in Sam Raimi's original trilogy, and both actors reprised their roles for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
It's difficult to imagine Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures keeping these bad guys on the shelf for too much longer, and Alex Perez says there are "definitely" pans in place to introduce new takes on Gobby and Dock Ock at some point.
In the latest Cosmic Circus Q&A, Perez was asked if we will see new versions of both characters, and if so, how will they get around the fact that Tom Holland's Peter Parker already knows that Octavius and Osborn will eventually become villains.
"And the way that Marvel is handling it in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is going to mirror what the MCU will do for Spidey’s story moving forward. It won’t be a 1:1, but the story beats are going to parallel, kind of like how some story beats in the MCU parallel the stories in What If…?"
We're not sure exactly what this means, but the Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man animated series takes place in an alternate timeline to the MCU, where Norman Osborn becomes Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark.
As for Brand New Day, Perez "refused to comment" when asked if Sadie Sink really is playing Shathra, and in response to a question about Zendaya possibly having a bigger role as MJ than rumors have suggested, he said: "(Fictional) MIT is EVILLLLLLLLLLL."
Someone else asked about the chances of Madame Masque or "more female villains" being introduced in the near future, to which Perez replied, "In BND." While some seem to have misinterpreted this as a reveal that Masque will appear in the movie, we're pretty sure he's just referring to the fact that Brand New Day will feature a female villain.
Finally, Perez was asked about the chances of director Destin Daniel Cretton staying on to helm more Spider-Man films.
"It’s definitely a case of movie-by-movie basis, but right now, the morale is so high with the crew and how Destin is shaping this movie up to be, that it would be hard to fill his shoes, even if the movie isn’t a success (which I doubt because Mr. Cretton has some cojones to pull off what he’s about to do)."
Brand New Day's cast also includes Jon Bernthal as The Punisher and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova is expected to appear for a cameo.
“I’m spending my time exploring the next stage of this amazing character with a team of the most incredible artists in the world," said Destin Daniel Cretton during CinemaCon. "We’re all, just daily, nerding out over the suit, how to swing, how to create an event, an emotional story, and a ride that we haven’t really seen before"
"It's day one — my fourth-ever day one on Spider-Man," Holland said in the recently-released BTS video. "You know, it's funny. Putting the suit on, it feels different this time, somehow. It's also the first time we've ever had fans on set for day one, so it's really exciting to share this with them. We've got some familiar faces on set. You know, Im just going to do my best, hopefully get it right. No pressure."
Spider-Man 4 was pushed back a week from July 24, 2026 to July 31, 2026.