Over the past few weeks, the Spider-Man 4 rumors have really picked up steam, with everyone from Venom, Ghost Rider and Black Cat, to Daredevil, Mephisto and Knull mentioned as possible allies and foes for Tom Holland's web-slinger in his next solo outing.
With so many conflicting reports, it's obviously difficult to put much stock in any of them, but the reason we're hearing all of these rumors is likely down to Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures tossing multiple ideas around as they attempt to lock down a story everyone is happy with.
Of course, we can't discount the possibility that Marvel is "leaking" false details to throw the scoopers off track!
At any rate, the script is believed to be undergoing a major overhaul, possibly due to differences of opinion between star Tom Holland and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, and last we heard, the movie was still a long way from starting production because there isn’t a finalized shooting draft yet.
This latest rumor comes via tonight's episode of The Hot Mic, and if there's any truth to it, a lot of Marvel Comics fans will surely be hoping that this is the direction the movie goes in.
John Rocha has heard that the plan was - he stresses that he isn't certain if it still is - to have Spider-Man team up with The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) to take on The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in a street-level adventure. Co-host Jeff Sneider backed up the rumor by saying Green Goliath's involvement "passes his smell test," but he's not so sure about Frank Castle.
Spidey has joined forces with Castle and faced-off with the Hulk on a number of occasions in the comics, and if the studio is indeed laying plans for an eventual World War Hulk(s) movie, it's entirely possible that Banner could begin his rampage by smashing up New York. Bernthal and Holland have worked together in the past and seem to be good friends, and we could see a very entertaining dynamic between Parker and Castle as they form a reluctant alliance.
Spider-Man 4 (still untitled) has a release date of July 24, 2026, with filming reportedly scheduled to get underway around August of this year. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton is set to helm the film.
“One of the things is that, with Marvel, your film is a small cog in a large machine,” Holland said about the movie's development in a recent interview. “That machine has got to keep running. You have to make sure you can fit into that timeline at the right time to benefit the bigger picture. That’s one of the challenges we’re facing. The time in which we need to get that done is a tall order but definitely achievable with the people we have working on it now.”