6 Things that point towards a Spider-Verse in Spiderman 3

Rumours of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles of the web-slinger in the upcoming Spiderman movie has been making rounds on social media lately. According to the story that was first reported by Andy Signore from Popcorned Planet, the duo has already been signed on to reprise their characters. However, in a statement to ET Canada, a Sony representative stated that “Those rumoured castings are not confirmed.” Since we haven’t received any official confirmation from either Sony or Marvel, any rumours about the casting should be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, here are 6 confirmed things we know that could spell the starting point of a Spider-Verse in Spiderman 3. 

Jamie Foxx as Electro

The last time we saw Jamie Foxx playing Electro was in The Amazing Spiderman 2(2014). The film was met with a lot of criticisms from fans and was the last time we saw Andrew Garfield donned the Spiderman suit. The acclaimed actor took to Instagram to reveal his involvement with the new Spiderman film. “Super excited to part of the new Marvel Spider-Man new installment, and i won’t be blue in this one!! but a thousand percent badass!!!” However, the post was later deleted by the actor. Foxx coming back to play Electro could signal the start of introducing the concept of alternate realities in the MCU.

Dr Strange in Spiderman 3

Benedict Cumberbatch will be reprising his role as Doctor Strange in the upcoming Spiderman movie. It was also revealed that Strange will be playing the role of a mentor to Tom Holland’s Spiderman. The friendly neighbourhood superhero was earlier mentored by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr in Spiderman Homecoming and by Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) in Spiderman: Far From Home. Dr Strange’s involvement in the movie could explain the return of Electro from another universe. The movie could also explore the idea of a multiverse or the Spider-Verse through the good doctor’s collaboration. 

J.K. Simmons as J.Jonah Jameson

Let’s be honest, when we first saw J.K. Simmons portraying his iconic character of J.Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi’s Spiderman Trilogy, we were all ecstatic. Watching the character on screen after his last appearance in Spiderman 3 (2007) sent our spidey sense tingling. We initially thought this was Marvel playings its nostalgia card to please the fans. However, further announcements made by both Sony and Marvel made us come back to this pivotal moment that could be the beginning of a Spider-Verse. 

The inevitable post-credits scene of Spiderman: Far from Home featured an older version of J. Jonah Jameson who works for the Daily Bugle.net. In a classic portrayal of the character, he declares Spiderman responsible for the brutal murder of Mysterio and in a shocking turn of events also reveals Spiderman’s true identity – Peter Parker. With his identity revealed and under the scanner of the police for the alleged murder of Mysterio, it will be interesting to see how this carries on to the next film. Will we see Doctor Strange use his magic to help Spiderman out or will the possibility of a Spider-Verse solve this crisis. We will just have to wait and watch. 

Morbius and the Return of Vulture 

The Morbius trailer that was dropped by Sony in early January of this year brought in with it a flood of questions. Jared Leto will be seen playing the character of Moribus, a living vampire in the action-horror movie. In the trailer we see the words ‘Murderer’ painted across a graffiti of Spiderman. This ties in with the reveal towards the end of Spiderman: Far from Home which accused the web-slinging hero of murdering Mysterio. But, interestingly, the Graffiti on the wall is of Sam Raimi’s Spiderman Trilogy which was played by Toby Maguire. 

Another villain who featured in the trailer was Vulture, who is being played by Micheal Keaton. In the clip, we can see Vulture in the same prison clothes that he was last seen wearing in the mid-credits scene of Spiderman: Homecoming. So confusingly, the Moribus trailer ties in with both Toby Maguire’s and Tom Holland’s Spiderman. Seems to me like the gap between Sony and Marvel’s respective universes are getting blurred, which could lead to the set up of a live-action Spider-Verse.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The capped superhero will return in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is scheduled for a release on March 2022. The horror-esque movie will also feature the return of Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). The events of Olsen’s WandaVision, a Disney+ Tv show will likely to be connected to the movie in some way or another. Interestingly, Kevin Feige also revealed that there will be a connection between the Loki series and the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel. 

Marvel fans will also be pleased to know that Sam Raimi, the director of Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman Trilogy will be directing the Multiverse of Madness. The movie will likely explore the possibilities of a multiverse, the stems of which could be seen in the upcoming Spiderman movie. 

Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters

After the confirmation of a deal between Sony and Disney, Kevin Fiege stated that “He (Spiderman) also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.” This might potentially mean that Tom Holland’s Spiderman will feature in the MCU as well as in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, possibly setting up a crossover between the two. 

Marvel Studios President Kevin Fiege will be co-producing the upcoming untitled Spiderman film alongside producer Amy Pascal. The movie will also feature the return of writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers along with director Jon Watts, who worked on the previous instalments of the Spiderman series in the MCU. While the movie title still hasn’t been revealed to the public, the word ‘Home’ will likely be featured in the name. As this was the case with Spiderman: Homecoming(2017) and its sequel Spiderman: Far From Home(2019).

The third standalone Spiderman movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was initially supposed to release on July 16th 2021, but owing to the pandemic, the movie has been pushed back to 17th December 2021.