Marvel cut Tom Holland’s MCU return as Spider-Man

Spider-Man: No Way Home changed the game for Peter Parker but Marvel once opted not to bring back Tom Holland’s hero for a cameo appearance in a recent MCU movie.

We last saw Tom Holland star as Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The movie was a game-changer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, reintroducing various characters from previous Marvel movies and setting the stage for a new, more mature chapter for Peter.

However, the character was initially set to return in a different movie, as it has now been revealed that Tom Holland was supposed to reprise his role as Spider-Man in subsequent multiverse movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

That cameo return, however, was reportedly scrapped by Marvel.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man almost appeared in Doctor Strange 2

As reported by The Direct, an interview that MCU costume designer Graham Churchyard had done with LRM Online has resurfaced online, revealing that Peter was actually supposed to appear in Doctor Strange 2. It ultimately didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Churchyard, Multiverse of Madness was originally supposed to come out before Spider-Man: No Way Home but the pandemic rescheduling changed everything. He added:

"“…So Doctor Strange and his new costume and America Chavez were supposed to go into Spider-Man [No Way Home], and Spider-Man was supposed to come into – for very a brief cameo appearance – into ‘Multiverse [of Madness]’. But then COVID just shook it all up.”"

If Doctor Strange 2 had come out first, it would have marked Holland’s first appearance as the webslinger since Spider-Man: Far From Home, which ended in a shocking fashion that saw Mysterio reveal Spidey’s true identity to the world. While it’s not clear how that would have impacted Multiverse of Madness, it certainly would have made it and No Way Home feel like more of a double act than they ultimately were.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange is a significant part of No Way Home, and he also mentions Spidey in Multiverse of Madness, but the two multiversal movies are a lot more disconnected than audiences expected, and now it seems that wasn’t the original plan.

Obviously Holland did end up returning in No Way Home, the third MCU movie to be headlined by his character, and it won’t be the last we see of him either.

Will Tom Holland be back as Spider-Man in the MCU?

Marvel may have done some reshuffling in Phase Four in regards to Spidey’s return, but the jaw-dropping events of that return in Spider-Man: No Way Home left audiences wondering if they would ever see the wall-crawler again. The good news is that this wasn’t the end after all, it seems, but only the beginning.

Tom Holland is expected to reprise his role in a fourth Spider-Man movie set in the MCU. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and producer Amy Pascal have both confirmed that Spider-Man 4 is in the works. Little is known about it yet, but reports have suggested that it could be the opening of a new trilogy, which will see Peter evolve into a more mature hero.

As for when the movie could come out, that is still unclear. Like other confirmed upcoming MCU titles, it has yet to be given a definitive release date. Nevertheless, Marvel fans are thrilled at the prospect of more Spidey in the MCU.