The unexplored “multiverse” aspect of superhero movies may be explained and explored in the upcoming “Untitled “Spider-Man 3” sequel coming out in 2021.
The fans have already received a “multiverse” in 2018’s, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” following the character Miles Morales and his story on how he became Spider-Man. Although animated, this movie won multiple awards and introduced what a “multiverse” is to the general movie watching population. However, many people are still skeptical if it could work with a life-action film.
In recent weeks, there have been many rumors that previous portrayers of Spider-Man/Peter Parker will be included in the next untitled Spider-Man film, which is rumored to be a “multiverse” focused movie.
This list would include Tobey Maguire, from the “Spider-Man” series (“SM”, “SM2”, “SM3”), Andrew Garfield, from “The Amazing Spider-Man” series (“TASM”, “TASM2”). Maguire’s universe is known as the Raimi Spider-Man Universe (RSMU), Garfields is known as “The Amazing Spider-Man Universe” (TASMU) and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Although these are just rumors, there are official castings and official released scenes from other movie trailers that point to the return of these other Spider-Men.
Most recently, Jamie Foxx, who played the villain Electro/Max Dillon in “TASM2”, has been recast as the same character in the upcoming Spider-Man sequel. It was first reported by Deadline and then was later confirmed by Foxx himself on his instagram page.
Ilram Choi, one of Andrew Garfield’s stunt performers on “TASM” and “TASM2”, says that he didn’t know about the recast until a few days after it was announced.
“Yeah, I read that. I don’t keep up with the news, but no, I haven’t heard anything.”
In a now deleted post, Foxx said, “Tell Spidey let’s run it back!… super excited to [be] part of the new marvel Spider-Man new installment… [I] can’t wait for y’all to check the new one. And I won’t be blue in this one!!”
Along with the caption, Foxx added a picture of fan art by the Instagram page known as “@n.o.v.a.official.” The photoshop art includes all three Spider-Men (Holland, Garfield and Maguire), standing together about to face off against Foxx’s Electro floating in the sky in front of them. This suggests that the plan for the next Spider-Man movie is to include all three live-action Spider-Men working together to defeat the villain, or villains of the movie.
This connects the TASMU to the MCU, which in a deeper sense means that this is the first time a live-action Spider-Man has shared the same villain with another live-action Spider-Man. In this case, it is Holland and Garfield that share Foxx’s Electro as a villain.
Derrick Woods, fan-film director of “The Amazing Spider-Man 3”, isn’t really sure whether to believe the Electro that will be in the untitled Spider-Man sequel will be the old one from “TASM2” or a new Electro.
“Jamie Foxx did say he’s not going to be blue in this one. So, I would assume it’s something different, but at the same time Sony is really trying to set up this multiverse they have going on because it’s going to make a lot of money going on,” Woods said.
This isn’t the first time a character has crossed over into another universe. In ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home” (“SM: FFH”), J.K. Simmons returned to his fan-loved role of J. Jonah Jameson, from the “Spider-Man” series, in the post-credits scene. He was last seen portraying this character in 2007.
Choi also said he probably wouldn’t return alongside Garfield’s Spider-Man, but if he did, he would be off-camera more as a choreographer.
“I’m older now, so I would probably be [working] on choreography. I do enjoy performing but it’s a lot of work and takes a toll on your body,” Choi said.
The upcoming “Morbius” film had a clue pointing towards a “Spider-Verse” movie in the future as well. At the end of “SM: FFH” the villain, Mysterio showed the world Spider-Man’s secret identity (Peter Parker). Mysterio lied and told the world Spider-Man killed him.
In another shot of the “Morbius” trailer, Jared Leto’s character, Dr. Michael Morbius, is walking through an alley with an orange jumpsuit on. In the background, there is graffiti art on the wall of Spider-Man with the word “murderer” written on top. Fans wouldn’t think twice about it until they noticed it wasn’t Holland’s Spider-Man suit that was used, but instead it was Maguire’s Spider-Man suit.
The word “murderer” relates to the ending of “SM: FFH,” when Mysterio told the public that Spider-Man killed him, who in the public’s eyes was a hero.
Later in the trailer, Morbius also interacts with “Spider-Man: Homecoming (SM: H)”’s main villain, The Vulture/Adrian Toomes, played by Micheal Keaton, connecting Maguire’s and Hollands Spider-Man.
In the upcoming untitled Spider-Man sequel, Benedict Cumberbatch is also set to return as his character Dr. Strange.
In the comics, Strange is not a stranger to hopping through multiverses trying to save the world, so it would be no surprise if the multiverse was involved in some way, shape, or form in the upcoming Spider-Man film.
Junior Buster Schmitz says he believes that the multiverse will start to be discovered in Disney +’ “Wandavision” series and be explored further in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness”, directed by Sam Raimi, who directed the Spider-Man series.
“I think it will start off in “Wandavision” where she creates portals [to other universes], then [will be explained more in depth] in “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness”. [Strange] will try and fix things, but will inevitably cause new threats on [his] world. Then, Tom Holland will meet the other Spider-Men kicking things off with the multiverse characters,” Schmitz said.
Woods also said that the Sinister 6 is “definitely” coming in the future of the MCU and possibly in the next Spider-Man film.
The Sinister 6 is Spider-Man’s main rogue gallery. Its most common members consist and rotate through multiple characters; Green Goblin, Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Vulture, Venom, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, and Scorpion. Out of those 10 characters nine of them have been seen in a live-action film before, so it’s not hard for Woods to believe it’s out of the question.
If Garfield’s and Maguire’s Spider-Men do share the screen with Holland’s in the next movie, their dynamics would be different depending on which two Spider-Men are focused on, according to Schmitz.
“I think that Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man would get along on a comedic level, but I feel Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield would also get along on an emotional level as they both had major trauma from Uncle Ben’s death, whereas I feel Holland’s Spider-Man was affected more by Tony Stark’s death,” Schmitz said.
Woods says that he thinks Garfield would be more “jaded” than the other two Spider-Men, Maguire would be full of wisdom because he is a little older and Holland would be “jittery” and wanting advice from the other two.
While the future of Spider-Man on the silver screen may be uncertain and full of rumors and theories right now, it’s only a matter of time before more and more facts come out about the movie. Until then, according to Schmitz, all the fans want for the future of Spider-Man is, “Miles Morales. 100% Miles Morales.”