Warning! This article contains spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance.Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 4 could potentially include a wide array of exciting characters from Marvel Comics and live-action history. After a long time with no updates, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next Spider-Man film is rolling full steam ahead. Holland’s Spider-Man 4 will start filming next summer, with its release date being July 24, 2026. Following Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s ending, there are a few different ways the sequel could go.
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What is known for sure is that Marvel will once again include exciting characters alongside Peter Parker. The MCU’s Spider-Man movies have featured at least one other major player from the franchise. That trend will likely continue with Spider-Man 4, and there are some good options for who could be chosen. Peter Parker’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ending, the MCU’s casting trend for Spider-Man movies, the Multiverse Saga, and more suggest a great group of characters who could appear in Spider-Man 4.
10 Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man
A Multiverse Event
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The multiverse Spider-Men are rumored for the film. After 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home became one of the biggest movies of all time, grossing nearly $2 billion worldwide, Marvel and Sony have to be thinking about how to bring back Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. While both can be seen as a package deal, Spider-Man 4 could also only include one of them.
Garfield could serve in that big brother role to Holland’s Spider-Man and help him work through the sadness of losing MJ while the two deal with a multiversal threat.
Garfield’s version of Spider-Man can relate to Holland’s Peter Parker in a few ways. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 saw Garfield’s Peter lose the love of his life, Gwen Stacy. While Zendaya’s MJ is alive in the MCU, she does not remember who Peter Parker is. Garfield could serve in that big brother role to Holland’s Spider-Man and help him work through the sadness of losing MJ while the two deal with a multiversal threat.
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9 Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man
Another Multiverse Return
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Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man could also return for another multiverse event in Spider-Man 4. This would allow the actor to finally be part of a fourth Spider-Man film after his own announced Spider-Man 4 with director Sam Raimi was canceled several years ago. Maguire’s Spider-Man could be used both alongside Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker or by himself, being able to help Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in a key way.
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Maguire’s Peter Parker hit rock bottom like the MCU’s Spider-Man has. Like Holland’s Peter, he also moved to a small apartment by himself and distanced himself from his loved ones, though it had to do with the Venom symbiote in his case instead of the ramifications of Doctor Strange’s spell from Spider-Man: No Way Home like Holland. Maguire’s Peter can help Holland’s Spider-Man navigate this new stage of his life and pick himself back up.
8 Harry Osborn
Peter Parker’s New Best Friend
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Harry Osborn is one of the most important characters in Spider-Man comics. He is often Peter’s best friend, a role that has been depicted in both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man movie franchises. In the MCU, Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds occupied that role in Tom Holland’s first trilogy. However, Ned does not remember who Peter is, and that could lead to another character becoming Spider-Man’s best friend.
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The MCU would have to explain why Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn did not find Harry in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Harry Osborn would be perfect for the role. At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the camera panned to a book showing that Peter Parker was studying for an exam that would allow him to finish high school. As such, he should be in college in Spider-Man 4. Since Harry and Peter first met in the comics in that setting, Harry Osborn has become a possible character for the MCU movie.
7 Gwen Stacy
Peter’s New Love Interest
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Following the same logic of Harry Osborn’s possible inclusion in Spider-Man 4 is Gwen Stacy. Like Harry, the first time that Peter and Gwen met in the comics was when both of them were at Empire State University. The same could be true of the MCU’s versions of the characters, with Marvel Studios differing it from The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, as Andrew Garfield’s Peter met Emma Stone’s Gwen in high school.
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Spider-Man Movies |
Release Year |
|---|---|
|
Spider-Man |
2002 |
|
Spider-Man 2 |
2004 |
|
Spider-Man 3 |
2007 |
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The Amazing Spider-Man |
2012 |
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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 |
2014 |
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Spider-Man: Homecoming |
2017 |
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Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse |
2018 |
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Spider-Man: Far From Home |
2019 |
|
Spider-Man: No Way Home |
2021 |
|
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse |
2023 |
|
Spider-Man 4 (MCU) |
2026 |
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Since Peter Parker chose not to tell MJ about their past in order to protect her, the character will be single going into Spider-Man 4. Gwen Stacy could serve as Peter’s new love interest in the MCU. The Amazing Spider-Man franchise has shown how well that can work out in live-action, and having such a major character from the comics join Spider-Man 4 would be very exciting.
6 Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm
A Different Kind Of Best Friend For Peter
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After a long time, Marvel’s First Family is finally home. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the MCU’s biggest release of 2025, introducing the beloved team from the comics to the Marvel Studios franchise. Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are deeply tied in the comics, and with the team now joining the MCU, it is likely that Marvel will repeat that bond.
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Related The First Human Torch Set Photos Have Completely Changed My Mind About His Fantastic Four Costume
Joseph Quinn can be seen as the Human Torch in new The Fantastic Four: First Steps set photos, and they have changed my mind about his MCU suit.
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Johnny Storm and Peter Parker are best friends, with the Human Torch even living with Spider-Man for some time in the comics. With Tom Holland and Joseph Quinn being around the same age, Peter and Johnny could end up becoming friends in college. The Human Torch and Harry Osborn could even co-exist in Peter’s life if the latter was also to debut, as Johnny Storm has the unique angle of also being a superhero, so he would understand Spider-Man in a way only few can.
5 Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom
The Multiverse Saga’s Main Villain
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Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark was the mentor of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the MCU. So far, it has not been revealed how Marvel will explain the fact that Downey is back in the MCU as Doctor Doom. Whether it be through Doom becoming an Iron Man variant in the franchise or the character simply sharing the same face as Stark, Peter Parker will be affected by seeing beneath Doom’s mask.
That could lead to the characters forming some kind of relationship in Avengers: Doomsday, as the Multiverse Saga’s villain could see the opportunity to manipulate Peter. Spider-Man 4 has been confirmed to be released between the next two Avengers movies. As it is likely that Avengers: Doomsday will end with the creation of Battleworld due to how Secret Wars plays out, Doctor Doom could appear in Spider-Man 4 if the film is set in his domain.
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4 Black Cat
A Street-Level Love Interest
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While the Multiverse Saga setup and the release date of the next Spider-Man movie make it seem like a multiversal story is on the way, that might not happen. Spider-Man: No Way Home did end with the tease of a more grounded and personal next adventure for Peter Parker, and if Spider-Man 4 ends up going for the street-level route, then the rumored Black Cat would be a perfect addition.
Black Cat is the ideal match for Spider-Man in his current MCU path. The reason Peter decided not to tell MJ about their history together was because he saw that she had hurt herself in Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s final battle, so he chose to keep her safe. Since Felicia Hardy also lives in the same dangerous world that Peter does, they could connect over their double lives in Spider-Man 4.
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3 Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi
Spider-Man 4’s Most Likely MCU Crossover Character
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Every MCU Spider-Man movie has included at least one MCU crossover character. Spider-Man: Homecoming had Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Spider-Man: Far From Home featured Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill — both revealed to be Skrulls in disguise — and Spider-Man: No Way Home used Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. The same should continue for every new film in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man franchise.
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As such, Spider-Man 4‘s most likely crossover character has to be Shang-Chi. The reason for that is simple: Spider-Man 4 will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who was behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Both characters have interacted in the comics, with Shang-Chi teaching Spider-Man martial arts. The same could hold true for their relationship in the MCU, perhaps continuing from both being in the Avengers together prior to Spider-Man 4 in Avengers: Doomsday.
2 Knull
A Major Multiversal Villain
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Knull recently made his live-action debut in Venom: The Last Dance. While the film takes place in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the character could make his way to the MCU through Knull’s powers of creating portals to any place in the multiverse. That said, Knull was still trapped in his prison by the end of Venom: The Last Dance and Spider-Man 4 has the perfect way of getting him out.
Knull is the creator of the symbiotes.
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A piece of Venom is still in the MCU, and with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker at his lowest yet, it could bond with him. As the new Venom movie showed, if Spider-Man were to die in his next film, the symbiote would bring him back to life, creating a new Codex that could free Knull from his prison. If Spider-Man 4 is really a multiverse event, then Knull is its perfect villain.
1 Tom Hardy’s Venom
Eddie Brock And Venom Can Meet Again
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Venom: The Last Dance shockingly ended with Eddie Brock alone after Venom sacrificed himself to kill the Xenophages. While the SSU’s Venom is seemingly dead, the piece of him that stayed behind in the MCU is still alive. Perhaps after bonding with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, it could sense Eddie out there and teleport him back to the MCU like it did before.
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Tom Hardy wants Venom to fight Spider-Man, as does Tom Holland and fans, so it is bound to happen at some point. Spider-Man 4 would be the perfect place for them to square up, with Eddie finding out Peter got the symbiote, taking Venom back, and fighting Spider-Man. The two could then team up to take on the film’s real threat, be it Knull or another multiversal evil who debuts in Spider-Man 4.
Spider-Man 4
Spider-Man 4 is the first sequel to the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland as the titular wall-crawler. After wiping his identity from the public’s memory in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker continues his crime-fighting adventures without the aid of Iron Man technology or the support of his former allies.
Release Date July 24, 2026 Cast Tom Holland , Zendaya , Jacob Batalon Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe , Spider-Man
All Announced Upcoming MCU Movies
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Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date February 14, 2025
- Thunderbolts* (2025)
Release Date May 2, 2025
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Release Date July 25, 2025
- Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Release Date May 1, 2026
- Spider-Man Homecoming 4
Release Date July 24, 2026
- Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date May 7, 2027
Captain America: Brave New World
Thunderbolts* (2025)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Avengers: Secret Wars
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