Ever since Spider-Man: No Way Home shattered expectations by reuniting three different versions of Peter Parker on the big screen, all eyes have been set on Spider-Man 4 to raise the bar yet again, and with good reason. The upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie will be released after the events of Avengers: Doomsday and will be helmed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton. Audiences are eager to learn what this new era in the wall crawler's saga will look like and who Peter will face next. Fortunately, we might have some much-needed answers.
A new report by reliable insider Daniel Richtman states that Sony has offered the main villain role of Spider-Man 4 to an unnamed major star. While this wouldn't seem like groundbreaking news at first sight, it goes against everything we've heard about the web-slinger's upcoming movie up until this point. After all, there were two main reports of what the movie could be about: a team-up with Daredevil to fight against the Kingpin of crime, or a crossover with Tom Hardy's Venom to stop Knull and his army of Xenophages from invading Earth. However, if any of those two prevailing theories were true, then the antagonist role would've already been cast.
Vincent D'Onofrio has been stealing the spotlight as Wilson Fisk in the MCU, while Andy Serkis brought the King in Black to life during the events of Venom: The Last Dance. So if the villain role is being offered to someone else, then chances are audiences will see a completely new antagonist as well — someone who hasn't made his big-screen debut yet. Fortunately, it seems like the days of speculation are finally over.
Mr. Negative will reportedly be the main villain in Spider-Man 4
According to Marvel scooper Marvel Source, Mr. Negative will be the big bad of Spider-Man 4. Martin Li is a relatively recent addition to Spider-Man's rouges gallery and has been stealing the spotlight in the Marvel's Spider-Man video game franchise. On the one hand: it's nice to know we could see a new villain in live-action — especially one who could be the perfect star of a "street-level" movie. On the other hand, it's impossible not to get worried about the current state of Spider-Man 4.
Tom Holland himself mentioned back in October 2024 that the script still needed more work (even if it was "excellent"). Later during November 2024, it was reported that the movie would be delayed to Christmas 2026. All of this happened during a time when it was all but confirmed that the movie would feature a team-up with Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock to fight against Knull. After all, the King in Black was set up to be a major threat going forward after the events of Venom: The Last Dance. But if that wasn't enough, Sony Japan itself teased such a crossover would take place in a now-deleted press release. All signs indicated we'd see a symbiotic storyline come to life in movie theaters. Unfortunately, that isn't likely to be the case anymore.
Industry insider The Beyond Reporter revealed that Knull would no longer be in the movie. Add to that the recent Mr. Negative reports, and it's easy to see Spider-Man 4's pre-production has been a little chaotic. Besides, no official casting announcements have been made, even when the movie is supposed to start filming in Summer. With all of that in mind, we can't help but wonder if maybe the script isn't set in stone yet.
The MCU is a big machine where every project must be released in a specific chronological order to ensure that the overall narrative makes sense. However, that could result in a few projects being rushed to meet deadlines, and it looks like that could potentially be the case with Spider-Man 4. Hopefully, we aren't too far away from official announcements to set the record straight once and for all and paint a clear picture of what the movie will be about. And if everything else fails, a delay would seem like the best road to follow. Nobody would enjoy the longer wait, but it could benefit Spidey's upcoming adventure. At the end of the day, all superhero fans want the same thing: To see Peter swing higher than ever. So hopefully that will still be the case even amidst all the drama behind the scenes.
Spider-Man 4 will be released on Jul. 24, 2026.