Ever since Spider-Man: No Way Home premiered in 2021, Tom Holland’s future as the titular character has remained uncertain. The film marked the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of Spider-Man’s time in the MCU. Not long after the film premiered, Holland and Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal suggested that the idea was to create a new trilogy featuring the character.
At the same time though, it is a bit of a difficult situation. This is because Sony still owns the film rights to Spider-Man, not Disney. Fortunately, the studios were able to collaborate to bring Spider-Man back into the MCU canon for Holland’s films. However, negotiations between the studios haven’t always been smooth, making fans curious if Disney and Sony really could reach an agreement for a fourth Spider-Man film. Additionally, Holland himself may have some reservations about taking on the role again. He stated once that he wouldn’t want to still be playing Spider-Man when he’s in his 30s. Holland later clarified that if he was still playing the role at that age, he would want it to have evolved into a mentorship role. So, heading into another solo trilogy at age 27 might still not be too appealing to him.
Recently though, a new update seemed to confirm Holland’s Spider-Man future.
Will Tom Holland return as Spider-Man after No Way Home?
At the premiere of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Pascal confirmed that a fourth Spider-Man film with Holland was in the works. However, development on Spider-Man 4 has been delayed until a satisfactory resolution is reached for the ongoing Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike. It seems the film has been making tentative progress since February when Kevin Feige confirmed there was a story for Spider-Man 4. Holland also responded to Pascal’s statement, confirming that meetings and discussions were underway before the strike. However, he emphasized to Variety that, “At this point, it’s very, very early stages.”
With the film in such early development, it seems that Holland has not fully committed to reprising the role yet. Plus, it’s unclear when these meetings and conversations will be able to pick up again, as Holland indicated they were respecting the writer’s strike. Ultimately, it seems Spider-Man 4 is a possibility and that Marvel and Sony are working on making it a reality. However, it’s still a very long way away from production, and Holland is not fully onboard.
Recently, Holland briefly shared his thoughts on reprising his role in Spider-Man 4 with Yahoo Entertainment‘s Kevin Polowy. In the interview, he indicated he would not return unless the film could top Spider-Man: No Way Home. He stated, “If we can’t find a way to compete with the third one, he’ll [Spider-Man] swing off into the sunset.” So, the door is open for Holland to continue playing Spider-Man in the future, but it remains up to him if he’ll accept the role or not.
(featured image: Disney)
