Out of the vast collection of characters that comprise the Marvel Universe, none are perhaps more beloved than the late, great Stan Lee’s own favourite creation, the wall-crawling, wise-cracking, Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. Over the years, Spidey has had quite a few on-screen reinventions, from his ‘70s live-action TV series played by Nicholas Hammond, through to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, and most recently culminating in Tom Holland’s Spidey who officially joined the MCU in 2016 in Captain America: Civil War.
Since Holland’s Spidey was first recruited by Tony Stark to help take down Cap and his rogue Avengers, he has since gone on to feature in four more MCU outings, including his two stand-alone films, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far from Home, his awkward charm and quick wit firmly cementing him as an MCU favourite within an already much-beloved franchise.
Now operating without the safety net once provided by his friend and mentor, Tony Stark, Spidey is due to return in his third solo MCU outing next year (now officially set as November 5, 2021). At this stage, very little is known about the hero’s next big-screen adventure, and even the film’s title is still under wraps, though Tom Holland has been quoted as saying the story will be “absolutely insane”.
So in the absence of anything concrete, we’d like to put our two cents forward and make a list of what we want to see in the next Spider-Man film.
Some New York Street-Level Crime Fighting
The MCU’s Spidey has had some big adventures in the past few years, from jaunting all over Europe in Far From Home to going into outer-space to battle Avengers-level threats like Thanos, but for us, Spidey is always at heart a Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.
Spider-Man’s most exciting challenges don’t always have to be fate-of-the-universe-level dangers, and we’d love to have the next Spidey film take place entirely in his native New York, slinging from high-rise to high-rise like he does best.
Some Legal Help from a Familiar Face
Spoiler warning, folks! Just when things were starting to look good for Peter Parker, the post-credit scene of Spider-Man: Far from Home put him right back in hot water as The Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson outed Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world, accusing him of murdering Mysterio and orchestrating the drone attack on London. It’s pretty clear that Peter is going to need some serious help to sort out that mess, and who better than a fast-talking lawyer with firsthand knowledge of the superhero game?
That’s right, we want Charlie Cox’s Matthew Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil to step in and help Peter out of the world of legal drama that’s clearly heading his way. Having crossed paths countless times in the comics, how awesome would it be to finally have a Spidey/Daredevil team-up on the screen? And, for good measure, we also want Supanova alumna Deborah Ann Woll to cameo as Karen Page covering the case.
Bring Him Pictures of Spider-Man!
The act of revealing Peter Parker to the world wasn’t the only shocking part of the Far from Home post-credit scene, fans rejoiced when actor J.K. Simmons returned to the role of the Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson, which he so perfectly encapsulated in the Tobey Maguire films. Quite simply, we want much more of Simmon’s Jameson pounding a desk with his fist screaming for pictures of Spider-Man.
A Familiar Crime Lord
If we’re bringing Daredevil into the mix, who better to serve in the role of the film’s central villain than Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk a.k.a. Kingpin?
Spidey’s faced down Kingpin many times in the comics, and he even served as the main villain in Sony’s animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film, and no one has played him better than D’Onofrio who absolutely slayed the role in the Netflix Daredevil series.
The Start of a New Cameo Tradition
Any true Marvel fan knows that the best bit of going to see any MCU movie was keeping an eye out for the inevitable cameo by comic legend Stan Lee. Sadly, with Lee’s passing in 2018 we’re not getting any more cameos from Stan the Man, and indeed Spider-Man: Far from Home was the first MCU outing to go without one of his famous cameos.
One thing many Marvel fans have suggested, though, is that now Marvel Studios own the rights to Deadpool, he would be the ideal character to begin honouring Stan’s legacy and popping up all over the MCU. And given the well-known Spidey/Deadpool bromance, what better way to start this new tradition than in the next Spidey film?
