Looking back on 2024, I think it’s fair to say that we all anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine would be the biggest superhero film of the year and no one was surprised by the film’s smashing success.
Deadpool & Wolverine was literally everything fans hoped for and more. It not only welcomed two of the most beloved and iconic superhero characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe but was also the ultimate team-up movie – in more than one sense of the word. Yes, the key team-up in the film came in pairing Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, but it also featured other surprise team-ups along the way which brought iconic legacy players back into the fold in brilliant and exciting ways.
From smaller team-ups such as Deadpool and Wolverine briefly battling alongside Chris Evans’ Human Torch to the larger-scale team-ups that saw the duo joining forces with a band of 20th Century FOX heroes who we thought we’d never see within the MCU – or on the screen ever in the case of Channing Tatum’s Gambit – the movie struck a brilliant balance in its team dynamics and the end result was a masterpiece that broke countless box office records.
For this reason, perhaps it should be of no surprise to learn that Sony and Marvel apparently want to use Deadpool & Wolverine as a roadmap for Spider-Man 4.
New rumor suggests Marvel and Sony hope Spider-Man 4 can be similar to Deadpool & Wolverine
As speculation continues to swirl about the future of the Sony Universe with rumors running rampant about what the future might hold for the Spider-Man IP, insider Alex Perez reacted to the “death of the Sony Universe” calling it an exaggeration before turning his attention to the studio’s next Spider-Man film which is when he spilled some major tea.
“What I have been told is that both Marvel AND Sony want this film in particular to be a team-up movie in the way that Marvel produced Deadpool & Wolverine. And that the end goal here is to recapture that same magic and team up dynamic but switch out Deadpool and Fox for Spider-Man and Sony," Perez teased via a Q&A on The Cosmic Circus.
Perez went on to add that of the possible team-up options on the table, it’s most likely that Tom Hardy’s Venom will be the one who teams up with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the film which could allow them to fold in the storyline of Knull that was introduced in Venom: The Last Dance.
Hardy has been very open about hoping to see his Venom finally crossing paths with Spider-Man, and we have to admit the combo of Hardy’s Venom and Holland’s Spider-Man could indeed prove to be the winning formula for Sony.
Holland’s MCU-set Spider-Man movies have given the studio their biggest wins by far and the only non-Spider-Man movies to actually turn a profit for Sony have been Hardy’s Venom movies. So bringing these two characters together seems like a perfect way to finally unite the Sony Universe and play up the team-up angle via inspiration from Deadpool & Wolverine.
Spider-Man 4 rumored to bring back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield
Interestingly, it seems that Sony and Marvel are really looking to draw inspiration from Deadpool & Wolverine beyond just featuring a key team-up led by two marquee characters. In fact, as Alex Perez hinted, it seems that there are indeed plans to bring back other iconic characters from the Sony Universe including two major names: Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
“Two of the trusted sources have told me they are planning to bring back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield for a larger participation than they had in No Way Home,” Perez hinted.
This is a rumor that has long been discussed among insiders with reports that Sony hoped to find ways to bring the former Spider-Man actors back in some capacity, with some hinting that Sony could perhaps bring them back for sequels from their original and respective Spider-Man franchises. Could the plan be to use Spider-Man 4 to bring these characters back together once again to add another layer of team-up elements?
That’s where things get a little complicated and interesting. If Sony and Marvel truly want to do a team-up movie like Deadpool & Wolverine, it would seem natural that there would be main characters and then ones who take on lesser roles. So if Venom and Holland’s Spider-Man are the leads, one has to question how Maguire and Garfield factor into the picture in a way that would be larger than that of their roles in No Way Home.
Regardless of what the plan might be, the idea of getting to see Marvel and Sony use Deadpool & Wolverine as inspiration for Spider-Man 4 and the possible team-ups it could bring is definitely an exciting concept to think about. Just imagine the buzz that would be created from a film starring all three Spider-Men actors that also included Hardy’s Venom, and possibly a few additional Sony Universe cameos from past legacy players. That definitely seems like a hit in the making which would spark excitement among fans!