Tag Archives: Tom Holland

Aug 16 2026

The MCU Surges Ahead At D23

Perhaps all the talk about superhero fatigue in fims and TV shows may have been premature. At this weekend’s D23 Expo, Marvel Studios surged ahead with impressive announcements for its Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and this comes fresh off the studios’ massive success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

In the past few years, the MCU and other live-action superhero franchises have struggled with general audiences as many films and TV shows failed to capture the stunning success they experienced in the 2010s, as seen with Marvel Studios’ films last year. While that idea may have some merit, what is becoming clear is that at least with Marvel Studios they have course-corrected and laid the foundation for its comeback, which is starting to bear fruit.

It is true that recent MCU projects (putting aside the new Spider-Man film) were not resounding successes, they were well received by critics and fans as seen with Daredevil: Born Again, Wonder Man, Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps, which helped to rehabilate the MCU’s reputation. By the time these properties made their debut, the MCU had developed a lukewarm reputation thanks to subpar films and TV shows like The Marvels and Secret Invasion. Marvel Studios in the early 2020s was forced to produce a glut of projects that were not well executed and the MCU suffered as a result. But thankfully, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige pulled back on output and emphasized quality over quantity and that is now starting to pay off. More importantly, people began to realized that MCU films and TV shows were back to being great.

The clearest sign of Marvel Studios’ renewed success of course comes from Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The latest Spider-Man film has astonished everyone by how successful it has become as it has just eatned over $2 billion in the box office. The film clearly proves that superhero film fatigue talk was premature and demonstrated that the only fatigue that existed was for mediocre films. While in the past, the film studios could get away with putting out inferior films, that no longer works. Put out a quality film with a popular character then it will be successful. Spider-Man: Brand New Day established that the character is one of, if not the most popular superheroes around and the film could be heralding a new golden age for the MCU. It has helped reignite interest in the MCU, which bodes well for Avengers: Doomsday and beyond.

There was a lot of doubt that Marvel Studios could inspire much interest in the upcoming Avengers film and questioned how the film’s villain, Doctor Doom, did not have the kind of lead up that Thanos had with the early MCU films. These questions appear to have been dispelled as seen with the reaction to the new trailer released during D23, which was previously shown at Comic-Con, and focused on Doctor Doom. There is a lot of intrigue behind the villain and the reason for his crusade, not to mention with his power scale as seen in the new trailer when he effortlessly brushed aside Thor’s attack and raised an army of robotic sentinels to attack the Avengers. Right now fans are pouring through every frame of the trailer and every nugget of leaks and rumors to find out what happens in the film and with its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars, not to mention which characters will appear in both films. But one set of characters has everyone especially excited.

Ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and the rights to the X-Men, Marvel and MCU fans have salivated over the idea of the mutants joining the MCU…and grown impatient. Despite having the rights to the X-Men, Marvel Studios was slow with introducing mutants into the MCU, but that has changed and started with the introduction of….Spoiler Warning for anyone who has not seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day….

Jean Grey, one of the founding members of the X-Men and portrayed by Sadie Sink.

At D23, Feige introduced the director of the upcoming X-Men film, Jake Schreirer, who was rightfully rewarded for his work on Thunderbolts* with this plum assignment. Sink was introduced on stage as one of the stars of the X-Men film and more actors were presented, such as Kit Connor as Cyclops/Scott Summers, Maya Boyd as Storm/Ororo Munroe, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Anna Marie/Rogue, Christopher Abbott as Professor X/Charles Xavier, and Adam Driver (appearing on video) as Mr. Sinister/Nathan Milberry. The announcements left out other characters like Beast, Iceman, Angel and Magneto, though it’s not known at this time if they will appear in X-Men, which comes out May 5, 2028. What was refreshing about Driver plaing Mr. Sinister is that the film won’t go with the usual route of Magneto being the main villain.

Expect a full cast for X-Men to be revealed later on, perhaps with another day-long YouTube video featuring chairs with names on them. Or that may be reserved for Avengers: Secret Wars which is expected to have an even larger cast than Avengers: Doomsday. Speaking of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, once again we were teased with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds possibly appearing in the film as Wolverine and Deadpool. This has not been officially announced, and there is no word if Tobey Maguire will appear as the OG Spider-Man, but this is driving everyone insane by now.

Even though everyone is excited by the coming slate of MCU films, many are concerned about the apparent demise of MCU TV shows on Disney+. After VisionQuest and the third season of Daredevil: Born Again there have been no announcements at D23 of anymore live-action MCU TV shows. This was made worse with the recent cancellation of Wonder Man even though a second sesaon was announced a few months following the positive reception it received. It has been reported in the Hollywood trades that Disney is pivoting away from live-action MCU and Star Wars TV shows because they appear to be diluting the brands and affecting the box office numbers for the films and the costs for producing them are too high. This is regrettable because Marvel Studios has produced some genuinely terrific TV shows. The problem they had goes back to the early 2020s with the Disney mandate to produce a glut of product which led to many terrible TV shows being produced. This clearly hurt the MCU brand and could have been remedied by cutting back and concentrating on producing permium TV shows like HBO does. This can work as we saw with Daredevil: Born Again and VisionQuest which looks like it will be great as well. There are rumors that Marvel Studios will produce one-off special presentations like Punisher: One Last Kill or Werewolf By Night, and will supposedly feature the Defenders and Strange Academy, as well as a sequel to Werewolf By Night. At least it’s something, but Disney is foolish if they completely abandon MCU television.

On a more positive note, it’s a relief to feel genuine excitement for the MCU and its upcoming projects. Any doubts about the MCU have been thankfully dispelled for now. Of course, helping to get rid of any concerns for good is if Avengers: Doomsday turns out to be great and makes a ton of money, which it will, as long as the film is well received by fans and critics. Otherwise, it could wind up like Avengers: Age of Ultron, which while it was financially successful, it dampened enthusiasm for Avengers films until Avengers: Infinty War came along. If Avengers: Doomsday ends up being a hit, and who knows if it can match or exceed the runaway success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, expect enthusiasm to go into overdrive for Avengers: Secret Wars and beyond.We can’t wait!

José Soto

Aug 9 2026

Top Ten Most Wanted MCU Spider-Man Team-Ups

One of the main features of the Spider-Man films that take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are that many MCU characters interact with Spider-Man. This made the MCU Spider-Man films unique since the previous films took place in their own universes because Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to live-action Spider-Man films, were not able to feature other Marvel Comics characters not associated with Spider-Man.

The meetings Spider-Man had with MCU characters were something of a mixed bag. On some films, the MCU references and character appearances felt intrusive and did not mesh well with Spider-Man. Other times, as seen with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the appearances of MCU characters and their interactions with Spider-Man were natural and added to the story. Here are ten other Marvel characters that the MCU Spider-Man should team up with; keep in mind that this list is geared towards characters Spider-Man has not met yet and characters that are currently alive in the MCU,,,or in another universe.

10. Cloak and Dagger

The young runaway duo made their debut in the comic book Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 and quickly gained a cult following. Eventually they had their own TV show that was not connected to the MCU, but the characters crossed over with another non-MCU Marvel TV show, Runaways. Aside from that the TV show was quickly cancelled and forgotten.

However, the characters are compelling enough to return and become part of the MCU, but recast with younger actors because the actors from the original TV show are aged out. Since they are closely associated with Spider-Man in the comics, they should be featured in a future Spider-Man film where he would serve as kind of a mentor and try to help them.

9. Rocket and Groot

Some of the most memorable moments from Avengers: Infinity War were the interactions of Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the film, Spider-Man met, briefly fought and ultimately teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Except he did not meet the full roster. Rocket Raccoon and Groot by that point in the film were off on their own separate adventure. So a story where Spider-Man properly meets and teams up with Rocket and Groot is warranted. For that matter, he may as well team up with the new Guardians of the Galaxy in an outer space adventure.

Actually, Spider-Man’s experiences in space demonstrated his ability to adapt to different environments. Sure he is better suited to operating in cityscapes but he held his own in outer space. It would also be amusing to see Spidey and Rocket trading insults with each other as they use their superior engineering skills to build new devices to help them fight the bad guys. Plus, Groot would be a perfect tree for Spidey to swing from.

8. Wolverine

This is one of the most popular team-ups in comics and for good reason. Wolverine is a savage and caustic character who liked to pick fights with Spider-Man, who proved that he was quite a match to Wolverine’s fighting skills. Once they stopped fighting, the duo turned out to have an engaging buddy-cop dynamic with their opposing personalities.

This kind of opposites-attract chemistry would be perfect for a bromance road film featuring these two heroes. It would be similar to Deadpool & Wolverine where Deadpool’s non-stop banter drove Wolverine insane. The same thing could happen in a Spider-Man/Wolverine team-up where Spidey’s quips and running mouth would be enough to drive Wolverine into a berserker rage. This would be perfect if they’re facing off against an army of disposable henchmen.

7. Ms. Marvel

Kamala Khan would be a great team-up opportunity for Spidey. He represents New York while she represents New Jersey, so the two neignboring superheroes would have a lot in common when it comes to their locales. As seen in her comics and TV show, Ms. Marvel is a huuuge fan of superheroes and while Captain Marvel is her favorite it would be easy to see her relating to Spidey since he’s from across the river.

It should be considered that both heroes are young, eager and have unique powers that would work well in a film. The intense banter would be hilarious to watch especially connsidering that she probably outdoes him when it comes to running her mouth. Who knows, they could even develop unrequited crushes for one another to make things interesting, though we know Peter’s heart belongs to MJ.

6. Deadpool

Another popular team up in comics is Spidey with the Merc with a Mouth. The two superheroes vaguely look similar although one is a deranged and violent killer while the other is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Given Deadpool’s penchant for violence and profanity, such a meeting would land Spider-Man in his first R-rated film!

This team-up would give Deadpool great material to break the fourth wall and quip non-stop about Spider-Man and his complicated live-action film and TV rights. It should be as hilarious as his commentary on the MCU and Marvel Studios in Deadpool & Wolverine. Also, as with Ms. Marvel, despite his gift for gabbing, Spider-Man would have a hard time keeping up with Deadpool’s mouth.

5. Miles Morales

This is so obvious. Marvel Studios and current Spider-Man actor, Tom Holland, are eager to introduce the next generation of Spider-Man to the MCU, But Sony Pictures has so far refused to allow this to happen (aside for a couple of vague references) and prefer to keep Miles Morales in his own animated film series. This is regrettable since Miles played a major role in the Secret Wars comic books and it is hard to see how the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars would proceed without him.

Still, we can always hold out hope that the ultimate team-up of these two Spider-Men can happen in live action. Sure the animated films are genuine classics but it would be so satisfying to finally seeing Miles Morales in a live-action film. Such a team-up would be a guaranteed box-office hit and a win for fans everywhere.

4. Thor

Aside from Black Widow and Hawkeye, Thor is the only OG Avenger who has not met Spider-Man (he most likely met Black Widow and Hawkeye off screen during the events of Captain America: Civil War). Thor would introduce Spider-Man to the epic cosmic scale of the MCU with outlandish worlds where Spider-Man would demonstrate his gifted intelligence to adapt and thrive in a location outside of his comfort.

Thor would feel a kinship with Spider-Man for his heroic and plucky nature. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s amazed reaction to Thor, his power and Asgardian trappings would be worth the price of the movie ticket alone. Plus, we would get to find out if Spider-Man is actually worthy enough to lift Thor’s hammer. He is as far as we’re concerned!

3. Venom

Tom Hardy, who portrayed Eddie Brock/Venom in the Venom film trilogy, always wanted to have his anti-hero meet Spider-Man. The two characters were fierce enemies before becoming uneasy allies in the comics, and Hardy hoped this would happen in the films. Sadly this has not happened to date. The best we got was a cameo of Spider-Man appearing on a TV screen in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Brock appeared in a post-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home but never met Spider-Man.

Sony Pictures at one point planned to have the fourth MCU Spider-Man film feature Venom and a storyline involving Venom’s arch foe Knull, but that never came to be, which was for the best. The storyline of Peter donning the Venom suit was done in Spider-Man 3 but could be remade to feature Hardy as an MCU variant of Brock who ends up with the Venom symbiote. It could lead to a new series of Venom films set in the MCU where he and Spider-Man could fight then team up together.

2. Daredevil

Technically the two New York City-based heroes met onscreen already in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but only in their civilian identities. It was hoped that Daredevil would have appeared in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but unfortunately, that did not happen, which is not surprising since he is currently in jail. But the film did have more than a few references to the world of Daredevil.

If the two heroes were to team-up in a future film, it should be against their common foe, Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #50 but became more known as a Daredevil villain years later. Vincent D’Onofrio and Tom Holland expressed their hopes that Kinpin and Spider-Man would confront each other but aside from a couple of references that has not happened. Come on Marvel Studios have the three characters interact with each other in a future film!

1. Human Torch

It had to be Johnny Storm. He and Spider-Man headlined the very first issue of Marvel Team-Up and years before the two often met each other in the comics. At first the two young hotheads didn’t get along well, but were able to put aside their differences to fight their enemies. It was not long before the two developed grudging respect for each other which turned into a genuine friendship that was so deep that Johnny handpicked Spider-Man to replace him on the Fantastic Four if needed.

One regrettable thing about Fantastic Four: First Steps was that it was not set in the 616 MCU reality where Spider-Man exists, which prevented any meetings between the Human Torch and Spider-Man. However, there is the hope that the upcoming Avengers films will be the perfect vehicle for these two young heroes to meet, argue and become best bros just like in the comics. Also, if Marvel Studios greenlights another FF film, it definetly should feature Spider-Man, even if all he does is argue with Johnny Storm; it could be as hysterical as his interactions with the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Other MCU characters to consider:

Beast, Black Panther (Shuri), Blade, Falcon Joaquin Torres), Gambit, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Kate Bishop, Kitty Pryde, Korg, Loki, Luke Cage, Man-Thing, Moon Knight, Mystique, Namor, Nightcrawler, Okoye, Quake, Rogue, Shang-Chi, She-Hulk, Stature, Storm, The Thing, Werewolf By Night

Are there any other characters who should be considered to team-up with Spider-Man? Leave a comment.

Jul 31 2026

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Presents The Most Authentic Version Of Spider-Man Yet

Reeling from recent box office disappointments Marvel Studios brought out its big guns for the newest film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with the latest Spider-Man film. After slightly over a year since we’ve had an MCU film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a return to form for Marvel Comics’ most popular superhero as the latest MCU Spider-Man film presents the character at his most authentic yet.

A common complaint about the MCU version of Spider-Man was that he was basically Iron Man, Jr. and his fawning over Iron Man, over-reliance on MCU references, and outer space trips did not help. This was done to differentiate the character from past versions of cinematic Spider-Men, but now that the character became his own independent solo character by the end of the last film, he was returned to the more grounded comic-book accurate version fans have come to love. Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is now a lonely young man who scrapes by in a frugal existence and is solely devoted to fighting crime in New York City as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

When Spider-Man: No Way Home, the last Spider-Man film, ended, a magic spell was cast that made the whole world, including his girlfriend MJ Watson (Zendaya) and his best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon),, forget that Peter Parker existed. This film deals with the consequences of that spell as Peter lives a solitary life in a decrepid rented attic working on upgrading his suit and fighting crime. An opening montage shows how for the past four years since No Way Home ended, Peter kept himself busy fighting assorted supervillains and helping the New York City police. In his down time, he monitors Ned’s social media feeds to keep track of him and MJ. During one incident involving a break-in at the federal detention center for the Department of Damage Control (DODC), Spider-Man goes to help the federal guards and encounters an unseen person (Sadie Sink) who can telepathically possess people, except him. His conflict with the person draws the attention of Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), an uneasy ally of Spider-Man who is the murderous vigilante called the Punisher. Unlike Spidey, Castle has no inhibition in trying to kill the telepath while Spider-Man wants to try to capture her for the DODC.

As he grapples with this new enemy Peter learns that he is starting to evolve physically; he is able to shoot organic webbing, his senses become overwhelming enhanced to the point they nearly debilate him, and his strength and agility increase. Alarmed by his development, Peter seeks out Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) for advice. Banner who is also the Hulk, has been able to keep his monstrous personna under control through an inhibitor that Peter hopes to duplicate to dampen his increased powers. At the same time, his intense loneliness drives him to eventually seek out MJ and Ned and try to find some way to reconnect with them. Naturally, all these plot lines converge with disastrous results as Peter has to find a way to come to grips with his emotional and physicaly plight while trying to stop the telepath.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the same person who helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Wonder Man. Unlike the previous director, Cretton brings much needed energy to Spider-Man’s antics which now feels kinetic and literally off the wall. The camera never stops moving and presenting dynamic and colorful scenes that are filmed off kilter, which could be disorienting but better captures the mind set of our favorite wall crawler. Needless to say, it is the best filmed Spider-Man film. The fight scenes and the visceral web swinging are easily the best ever shown in a Spider-Man film. It felt as if you were there with him as he swung through the City that Never Sleeps. BTW, the look and feel of New York City feels authentic and adds to the grounded and frentic nature of the film. There are also many beautifully set up scenes that capture iconic images and covers from the Spider-Man comics that fit in well with the tone of the film and flows perfectly.

But what made the film so special was its emphasis on the emotional core of Spider-Man and the telepath who are both injured and fragile souls that are at odds with the outside world. The narrative is fast paced and holds your attention despite the film’s length.

Spider-Man fits in perfectly with the MCU as its references and characters don’t feel in-your-face unlike some of the previous MCU Spider-Man films. This time, we get a street level connection to the former Netflix Marvel TV shows, especially Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again (and no despite our hopes Daredevil does not appear in the film), in the form of the Punisher. Both Holland and Bernthal have great chemistry together as their two characters oddly complement each other. Much of the banter and emotions they share are some of the best moments in the film and will bring a smile to your face.

All the actors were at the top of their game in the film. Tom Holland himself turns in his best performance as Peter/Spider-Man who is now more mature and downbeat but is still trying to find a way to connect in the world. The moments Holland has with Zendaya were so involving and feel so genuinely human, it probably helped that the two actors are married in real life! You can just empathize with Peter as he is anguished to know that MJ does not remember him or the love they once shared. It was very haunting and you can sense the distress coming off Peter in those moments.

Of course the film is not perfect. There are a lot of narratives going on which could have collapsed the film if not for Cretton’s steady hand and smart editing. Also, the storyline with the telepath sometimes takes away from the plight of Spider-Man and, without giving anything away, could be seen as just a way to set up other MCU projects, but it was very well done and engaging.

It’s hard to say where Spider-Man: Brand New Day would rank among the other Spider-Man films. It is arguably the best of the MCU Spider-Man films and rivals the early Sam Raimi films, though Spider-Man 2 is still the GOAT. Marvel Studios would be wise to retain Cretton for future Spider-Man films since he is a perfect fit for the superhero. Now on to Avengers: Doomsday!

José Soto

Jan 3 2022

Spider-Man: No Way Home—Spider-Man’s Endgame

Despite a global pandemic and naysayers, Spider-Man: No Way Home (NWH) defied expectations and is a mammoth box office hit. With the success comes discussion over what lies ahead for future Spider-Man films and the ramifications of the events of NWH. Be aware the following will include spoilers about Spider-Man: No Way Home and related films.

The Complex Film Web

Spider-Man’s film history and its development has always been rocky. Before the first Spider-Man in 2002, it took years and armies of lawyers to develop a Spider-Man film thanks to the Marvel Comics superhero’s complex film rights. As it now stands Sony Pictures holds the film rights to Spider-Man, not The Walt Disney Company or Marvel Studios. While Sony had great success with the early Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man films, they struggled with their rebooted film duology, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The film studio tried to start their own film universe based on Spider-Man and related property to rival Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). But those films were not as successful as the Raimi films nor were they well received. This forced Sony to scuttle further planned films and work with Marvel Studios to integrate the superhero into the MCU. This paid off tremendously as the MCU Spider-Man films were beloved and very profitable.

The partnership between Sony and Disney hit a large hurdle in 2019 shortly after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, a film which ended on a cliffhanger. The two companies could not come to terms and Sony took back the film rights, effectively ending all appearances by Spider-Man in the MCU. After some time, cooler heads prevailed and Spidey was allowed to have at least one more appearance in the MCU, which was Spider-Man: No Way Home, a film that celebrated all the Spider-Man live-action films as the actors who performed Spider-Man in the older films, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprised their iconic roles. Many theorized that based on the film’s plot line dealing with alternate realities that the superhero would transition away from the MCU and into his own reality that was populated by other characters such as Venom and Morbius.

Across a Multiverse

According to executives from both film companies, Spider-Man will remain in the MCU for the time being. Producer Amy Pascal even went as far as to announce that a new MCU Spider-Man was in development and perhaps more. He is also supposed to appear in one other MCU film as a feature character like he did in Captain America: Civil War and the last two Avengers films. It would be terrific if he could show up in the MCU reboot of the Fantastic Four since the two properties have a shared early history and the director of the MCU Spider-Man films, Jon Watts, has been selected to direct the FF reboot.

Spider-Man remaining in the MCU is welcome news for fans who love the MCU version of Spider-Man. No one can say for certain if this actually happens, but given the huge success of the MCU Spider-Man films, it would be in the best interests of both film studios to continue the arrangement. On the other hand, if this does not come to pass, at least the cliffhanger was resolved and the last film in the trilogy brought this Spidey’s story to a conclusion and a new chapter in his life.

Supposing Spider-Man were to remain in the MCU what would he face next? One clue is the alien symbiote that created Venom. At the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Venom was transported to the MCU, however he did not play a vital role in NWH. Instead, Venom and his host Eddie Brock hung out in a bar in Mexico and was transported back to his own reality in a mid-credit scene in NWH. The scene was quite funny, but some were disappointed that Venom did not help out the Spider-Men or join the Sinister Six. But a small fragment of the symbiote was left behind in the MCU. So this could be what Peter faces next.

As to how this fragment remained while everyone else not part of the MCU were transported back to their own realities, well, because plot holes. On that note, where were the other characters from other realities that knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man, such as the Raimi version of Venom, or the Harry Osborns in the other films or Peter’s love interests? The real-world answer is that having them show up would have made the film too crowded. It already had the two previous versions of Spider-Man and the main villains from those films, plus the Venom and Matt Murdock appearances. It is possible they arrived much later in NWH and were quickly whisked back before they could do anything. Or maybe they were about to come through in the scene near the end where the dimensional rift threatened to rip open wider. In that moment, audiences could make out the forms of other Spider-Man villains like Kraven the Hunter and Scorpion, so other characters who knew Spider-Man’s secret identity were bound to come through, also.

For now, it seems as if Venom will have his own universe that is populated by at least one other Spider-Man villain, Morbius. There are hints that this universe is part of the film universe of The Amazing Spider-Man films. These include the font for the Daily Bugle newspaper seen in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius is similar to that seen in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Another is the Oscorp Building featured in those films turned up in a recent trailer for Morbius. That film references Venom and the trailers featured Michael Keaton as presumably the Vulture, an MCU Spider-Man villain. How can this be? Simple, this version of the version is similar to the MCU version seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The way that actor J.K. Simmons reprised his role as J. Jonah Jameson in NWH being that he played the same character in the Raimi Spider-Man films also applies in this case with the Vulture. In other words, his appearance in Morbius does not mean the film takes place in the MCU. As to the apprent absence of Spider-Man in the Venom films to date (post-credits scenes aside), well, they could have taken place before The Amazing Spider-Man films.

There are plans to create a film based on Kraven the Hunter with Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the famous Spidey villain. This film could be interesting, but would feel hollow without Spider-Man’s presence. More than Venom or Morbius, Kraven was driven and defined by Spider-Man. He was obssessed by besting his ultimate prey in the comic books. This culminated in the classic story line “Kraven’s Last Hunt” and it is hard to imagine such a story being filmed without Spider-Man. If the Kraven film takes place in The Amazing Spider-Man films perhaps it can include Andrew Garfield’s version of Spider-Man.

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Dec 18 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home Is The Strongest, Most Emotional Spider-Man MCU Film

Usually the third film in a trilogy is considered the weakest entry even it it is a solid effort. The latest Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Spider-Man: No Way Home, proves otherwise and is actually the strongest entry.

Given the content of the film, it will be nearly impossible to discuss it without going into not just spoilers, but heavy spoilers. So, to be fair to anyone who has not seen this instant classic, this review will only cover broad generalities with more in-depth analysis to follow some other time. There will be some spoilers but only in the broad sense and covers what was revealed in the trailers.

Spider-Man: No Way Home picks ups immediately after the end of the previous MCU Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Far From Home where Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) secret identity of Peter Parker was revealed to the world. The aftermath of the revelation is devastating to Peter and those closest to him like his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), and Peter’s Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).

The loss of privacy and the intrusive nature of the outside world eventually drives Peter to seek magical help from the sorcerer Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). He asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make the world forget that he is Spider-Man, and the sorcerer agrees to do it. However, during the casting of the spell, Peter distracts Doctor Strange, which causes the spell to be corrupted.

The result is that Spider-Man villains from alternate film universes are brought to the MCU, in other words, the foes from the earlier, non-MCU Spider-Man films. These include Doctor Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin/Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), Electro/Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), the Sandman/Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), and the Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans).

Spider-Man quickly finds out that tackling with the not-quite Sinister Six and his decisions comes with severe consequences that not only imperil him and those around him, but the fabric of the multiverse itself. These developments force him to recognize that with great power comes great responsibility…and sacrifice.

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