Spider-Man 4 is one of the most exciting projects of the Multiverse Saga, and it should hit theaters before Avengers 5 and Secret Wars. But the unannounced Tom Holland sequel has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Reports have worried Spidey fans in recent weeks, as it seemed like Sony might ruin Spider-Man 4. All you need to do is watch Madame Web to see how good Sony has become at making bad Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU) movies.
More recently, word got out that Marvel might have prevailed in a difference of opinions with Sony about Spider-Man 4. That signaled that Sony won’t try to outdo No Way Home, nor push for an early release.
Nothing is confirmed, and we still don’t have an official Spider-Man 4 announcement. But an insider claims Sony and Marvel might start shooting Spider-Man 4 this fall. A warning before we go any further: Some spoilers might follow.
Issues with Spider-Man 4
To quickly recap what has happened in the past few weeks, I’ll remind you of the two issues with Spider-Man 4 that might have generated the unconfirmed debate between Sony and Marvel.
First, Sony reportedly wanted Spider-Man 4 to be as big as No Way Home. That means making it a multiverse movie possibly featuring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield again. On the other hand, Kevin Feige wanted Spider-Man 4 to be a more street-level story. The latter makes the most sense considering what happened with Peter Parker in No Way Home.
Second, Sony wanted to have Spider-Man 4 in theaters as soon as possible, maybe next year. That’s against Marvel’s wishes, which hoped for a 2026 release date for the sequel. Next year is already incredibly busy for Marvel. The studio delayed several movies to 2025 after last year’s strikes in the industry.
A compromise might be Christmas 2025. After all, one thing that worked well for No Way Home was the Christmas 2021 release window.
The most recent rumor claimed Kevin Feige had largely won, and the Spider-Man 4 production is moving forward. Sony and Marvel were searching for a director.
Production rumors
That Christmas release compromise sounds more plausible if Jeff Sneider’s new report on The InSneider (via Reddit) is correct.
Sony reportedly wants to start shooting Spider-Man 4 in September or October. But the problem is the studio doesn’t have a director. Sneider mentioned Justin Lin as one of the names Sony is looking at. But that’s not a confirmation. It sure looks like John Watts, who helmed the previous MCU Spider-Man trilogy, isn’t coming back.
A fall 2024 production date for Spider-Man 4 means the movie can’t hit theaters sooner than late 2025. I’m speculating here, of course. But, again, Christmas 2025 makes sense as a release date for Spider-Man 4.
The report also says that Spider-Man 4 will impact HBO’s plans for the next season of Euphoria. HBO didn’t want to wait until next year to shoot it, but Zendaya is tied to Spider-Man 4, so she can’t shoot both projects simultaneously. If this is true, it’s great news for Spider-Man man fans looking forward to seeing more of Zendaya in the MCU. We absolutely have to find out what happens next between her and Peter.
Finally, Sneider says that Sony might announce Spider-Man 4 at CinemaCon in mid-April. But nothing is certain.
If Sony and Marvel will indeed start shooting Spider-Man 4 this fall, then we’ll need an announcement sooner or later. And no, a Spider-Man 4 release date announcement isn’t likely for SDCC 2024. Sony probably doesn’t want to share the spotlight with Marvel’s big Comic-Con announcements.