Why Spider-Man is The Right Property To Launch Marvel Phase 4
Avengers 4 is scheduled to release in May 2019, then, just two months later, the MCU story will continue with the Homecoming sequel. Marvel has deliberately placed Spider-Man at the forefront of the MCU’s future. Why have they done this? And how can we expect the Homecoming sequel to set up the next chapter in the Marvel saga? Let’s look at how Peter Parker can shape the future of the MCU in Phase 4 (and beyond).
Spider-Man has always been Marvel’s greatest superhero, and there’s one simple reason for it: he’s the hero everyone can relate to. Tony Stark can brag that he’s a “billionaire genius playboy philanthropist,” Black Widow broods about the “red in her ledger,” and Captain America stands as a symbol of physical perfection and moral integrity. Spider-Man, though, is grounded in a way none of these other heroes are.
Peter Parker is the everyman hero. He’s a wonderfully complex character, driven by a sense of responsibility and guilt that pushes him to make the hard choices. Those choices cost him dearly: he’s the superhero who ditches his date at the Homecoming dance; he’s the good guy who has to choose to put his girlfriend’s dad behind bars. Life isn’t a bed of roses for the webhead. Rather, it’s a constant struggle, one that fans can perfectly relate to. Since 1962, Spider-Man has been a normal guy, desperately trying to work out how to pay the bills, making social faux pas, and getting distracted daydreaming in class.
The next two years will see the MCU head into space. Thanos is coming to Earth in Infinity War, and whatever happens there will lead into 2019’s Avengers 4. These films promise to bring a decade’s worth of superhero action to a head. If Marvel play this right, the movies will be cinematic spectacles like nothing Hollywood has ever seen before. But the risk is that they will actually lose something in all that bombast, or at least find itself so big by the end the future going into Phase 4 feels untenable.
After all that, Spider-Man will ground the franchise once again, allowing audiences to feel the impact of all the cosmic drama while returning us to the realm of the real.
Over in the comics, Spider-Man has always been a hero who plays well with others; it’s become a running joke that every Marvel hero has an obligatory team-up with him. Again, it’s because the character is an everyman hero; Peter reacts as we would, and stands for the reader (or, in the movies, the viewer). He thrills at a cosmic adventure, and fumes as the Punisher takes a life. Spider-Man makes for a perfect foil for almost any other hero, shining a light on their strengths and weaknesses, and allowing fans to understand them in a whole new way. Marvel clearly intend to repeat this formula in the movies, and it’s a smart call.
Right now, the identity of the superhero guest-star remains a mystery. But it’s safe to say that the Homecoming sequel will be setting them up for a major role in the MCU’s future.
Kevin Feige has teased that there will be a clear narrative flow between the films featuring Spider-Man. He’s gone so far as to suggest that Marvel is working on a five-film arc for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, one that flows through Captain America: Civil War, Homecoming, Infinity War, Avengers 4, and ultimately into the Homecoming sequel. That means the foundation of Spider-Man’s end goal (or, given the ongoing nature of the series, mid-point) has already been laid.
Civil War saw Spider-Man introduced to a wider world of superheroes — and he was thrilled. In Homecoming, Peter only had one objective; to become an Avenger. However, by the end of the film, he’d learned that he wasn’t ready for that. The next two movies, however, will see Spider-Man step up even though he isn’t ready; the Infinity War trailer has already shown him go head-to-head with Thanos himself.
It’s impossible to say at this stage how that arc will play out. On the one hand, it could be that the Avengers films see Spider-Man prove himself. By the end, he could be standing as the youngest member of the team, fighting alongside the surviving heroes going into Phase 4. Alternatively, it’s also possible that the experience of the cosmic could reinforce his sense that he isn’t ready for this. If that’s the case, the Homecoming sequel could actually see Spidey ditch the Avengers (if they still exist). That may well be a better call from a narrative perspective, as it would launch a more grounded side of the MCU to contrast with the cosmic future being spearheaded by James Gunn.
Whether Peter is an Avenger or not, his youthful eyes will allow us to explore what it means to be an Avenger and the life after a mission.
Spider-Man has one of the most well-developed rogues’ galleries in comics, second only to Batman. The villains are so compelling, in fact, that Sony is actually trying to launch their own Spider-villain shared universe. The question, though, is whether or not movies like Venom and Silver & Black will actually be part of the MCU. Amy Pascal famously referred to the films as “adjuncts,” suggesting they’d have some sort of relationship. She backtracked, and right now the future is uncertain. Marvel and Sony are clearly wishing to continue working together, though. There’s no reason in principle that these films couldn’t be worked into the wider MCU.
It’s true that the Spider-villain films will have a different tone and style to the PG-13 movies. The reality is, though, that the wider MCU already incorporates a far greater range than the films. Take the Marvel Netflix shows, all more brutal and violent than the films, yet still considered part of the wider MCU, with various references (most notably to “the incident,” the alien invasion in 2012’s The Avengers) and even Stan Lee cameos. For their part, the movies ignore these shows. The TV shows are essentially, to borrow Pascal’s term, “adjuncts.”
If Marvel do allow Sony to market their films as part of the wider MCU, Spider-Man could act as a crucial bridge between them. The jury’s out on an actual Holland crossover, but there’s no reason the Homecoming sequel couldn’t feature a couple of tiny nods to the Spider-villain movies. There are rumors that Sony is actually preparing for just such an approach; according to one report, Silver & Black will drop references to Oscorp. If that report is correct, Sony will avoid casting the character of Norman Osborn, allowing him to be introduced in the mainstream Marvel films – possibly in Spider-Man 2.
This wouldn’t just be an endorsement for Sony, but could lay the groundwork for the MCU’s further changes. Disney is in the process of purchasing the bulk of 21st Century Fox, which will see them acquire – amongst many other franchises – the X-Men. It’s unclear how exactly the merry mutants will be introduced (all that’s been said so far is that Disney wants more Deadpool), but it will regardless require some fudging of the timeline if they’re to have been a long-established presence in the world, a mass introduction similar to what Sony’s villain universe could get in Homecoming 2. It’s still too soon to say, but the long-term representative impact is massive; Spidey could be a test case for X-Men.
The future of the MCU is still shrouded in mystery. For all that’s the case, though, it’s possible to deduce a surprising number of details. The decision to put Spider-Man at the forefront reassures fans that, for all the talk of a cosmic future, the MCU will remain grounded as it expands into Phase 4. Marvel Comics have always attempted to set superheroes in “the world outside your window,” and Marvel Studios have the same goal. They may be going cosmic for a time, but that will be carefully balanced out – and Spider-Man will be the hero who strikes the balance.
KEY RELEASE DATES
Black Panther release date: Feb 16, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War / The Avengers 3 release date: May 4, 2018
Ant-Man & The Wasp release date: Jul 6, 2018
Captain Marvel release date: Mar 8, 2019
The Avengers 4 / Untitled Avengers Movie release date: May 3, 2019
Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel release date: Jul 5, 2019
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