Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, Amy Pascal confirmed to Fandango that Peter Parker will return for three more movies, “This is not the last movie that we are going to make with Marvel – [this is not] the last Spider-Man movie,” Pascal says. “We are getting ready to make the next Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland and Marvel. We’re thinking of this as three films, and now we’re going to go on to the next three. This is not the last our MCU.” Obviously, this move makes sense. Business-wise, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has made a killing at the box office; Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home have nearly $2 billion worldwide combined, making this the most successful version of Spider-Man thus far. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a hotly anticipated sequel that’s likely to continue to do big business at the box office. Quality-wise, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has successfully brought a renewed energy to the franchise that was missed since the original Raimi movies. Personally, I don’t think any of the films have surpassed Spider-Man 2; however, the movies have been highly entertaining thanks to a better exploration of the Peter Parker character, and his ties with The Avengers help too. There’s really nothing wrong with the Spider-Man franchise in general; however, the announcement of three more movies is a missed opportunity.
The key thing about the live-action saga is we’ve only been following the journey of Peter Parker. It was fresh and new when the first Spider-Man came out in 2002, but here’s the kicker, there are over a dozen different versions of Spider-Man; There’s Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, Spider-Gwen, Silk, Miles Morales, Man-Spider, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Wolf, and so many other incarnations featuring the popular comic book hero. Granted, most of the new Spider-Man heroes are essentially a carbon copy of Peter Parker; however, there are a few that stand out in a good way. Spider-Man Noir feels like The Punisher/Batman of the universe. He has no powers and is more so a detective; however, he’s an expert fighter who kills the bad guys. Plus, his story takes place during the 1930s. Man-Spider is actually a genetic experiment created by Magneto himself. He’s essentially a horror writer’s dream creature, with his different abilities being that he’s able to spit acid and shoot webs out of every limb. Spider-Man 2099 is another alternate and futuristic version that highlights Miguel O’Hara’s telepathy ability, along with the mass use of different high-tech technology.
The point of this is that Marvel/Sony isn’t truly experimenting with the property that could really introduce some fun and interesting characters into the universe. The storytelling possibilities are simply endless if Marvel and Sony took a different direction by choosing a new face to explore the Spider-Man universe. Can you imagine a Rated R Spider-Man Noir film that takes us back in time to the 1930s and explore the superhero world during the era of the great depression? Or a horror-style Man-Spider movie that could finally introduce the X-Men into the Marvel universe thanks to Magneto’s inclusion with the heroes’ origin story? I understand that the Tom Holland version of Spider-Man is vastly popular; however, we’ve been on the Peter Parker story for nearly 20-years. I have no doubts that the next three Spider-Man movies will be good. Hell, they’ll likely be great! There are plenty of tools that Marvel, and Sony can use now that Spider-Man is a main staple in the cinematic universe. However, the freshness of the franchise has long passed since The Amazing Spider-Man. The style, tone, and universe hasn’t changed much. Sure, the Avengers now exist in the Tom Holland saga, but it doesn’t particularly fix a world that’s been abused at this point. I’m not calling for Sony and Marvel to cancel the Tom Holland trilogy. In fact, it would be great if the studios went outside the box and introduced a new Spider-Man like Spider Noir or Man-Spider in a standalone movie. It’ll expand the universe of Spiderman’s world and there’s plenty of fun crossover potential. However, that possibility is highly unlikely. The studios are mainly focused on the Tom Holland features, though Miles Morales is getting some love on the animated side. There’s no doubt that I’ll be one of the first people to line up for the next three Spider-Man movies. I genuinely enjoy them and I’m happy to see more of Tom Holland’s version. It’s just a shame that the opportunity to truly experiment with the franchise won’t happen anytime soon.
