Spider-Man and the Web of Speculation

[Today’s Musings Monday is a return to my series Less Deep Extra Geek. For this segment, I am fully exposing the geeky fanboy side of me, sharing my thoughts and theories on a variety of “geeky” topics. Today, I’m looking at Spider-Man and his future in the MCU.]

Full disclosure: Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. He has been for a long time. I love the cartoon Spider-Man series as a kid, and the original Sam Raimi films blew my mind while also redefining what superhero movies could look like.

For the fans like me, we’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster in regards to the constant shiftings in the Spider-Man live action movies.

It started with the original three, but Spider-Man 3 was not as well received as the previous two. Then, only five years later we saw a reboot in the form of Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man. Though in my opinion, The Amazing Spider-Man movies weren’t bad, and they did show potential, there were some mistakes in the storytelling, especially in Sony’s rush to get to The Sinister Six, and just as quickly as it started, The Amazing Spider-Man was gone.

Meanwhile, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in the background doing a slow build, first to The Avengers, and then to the end of the Infinity Saga. When you think about the timeline, it’s easy to see how Sony was influenced by Marvel’s Avengers plans. Spider-Man 3 came out in 2007. Iron Man was released in 2008. The Amazing Spider-Man came out in 2012, the same year as The Avengers, while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 came out in the same year as Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Sony wanted in on the cinematic universe action, and it caused their own self-sabotage.

But then, only two years later, the unthinkable happened: Disney and Sony struck a deal, and now a new Spider-Man is allowed to join the MCU. Starting with Captain America: Civil War, the third and current Spider-Man is here. Now, two Avengers movies and two solo movies later, Spider-Man has gone from a nonexistent character to an interesting supporting character to an integral character, crucial to the character development of Tony Stark and inextricable to the Post-Avengers: Endgame world.

Indeed, after Spider-Man: Far From Home, fans were excited to see where the character and the universe would go next—especially after the shocking end.

But real life slapped us down. Apparently, Marvel and Sony’s deal was over, and they were unsuccessful in negotiating more movies. Sony could still make Spider-Man movies, but it would have to be completely separate from the MCU.

After a mild internet panic and more negotiations behind the scenes, we finally just learned last week that Disney and Sony came to an agreement and there will be at least one more Spider-Man film in the MCU.

Now that this fan’s emotions are done being played with (for now), and Far From Home has just released on Digital and Blu-Ray, I want to do two things: One, I want to celebrate Spider-Man and what the current iteration has done for the character’s legacy. And Two, I want to speculate on where Spider-Man’s going to go next, and reveal what I would do if I were in charge of writing the next movies.

Celebrating the Human Spider

The original Spider-Man trilogy brought him to the big screen. Looking back at these movies, it’s easy to point out their flaws. The special effects aren’t all on par with what we see today, and indeed, they have their fair share of cheesy moments. In spite of all that, they hold up extremely well, at least in part due to the superb casting. All in all, Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man is the one I relate to the most.

The Amazing Spider-Man movies were not bad. When the first one came out, I was still a little bitter that Spider-Man 4 would never be. I didn’t want to like Andrew Garfield, but I did. My biggest complaint was his portrayal of Peter Parker, as Garfield seems too cool and attractive to really pull off the original spirit of the character, but to Garfield’s credit, he still did a very good job.

These movies went the surprising direction of plunging into the mystery of Peter’s parents, and I’m sad that we never got to see it come together in Amazing 3. These movies also did a fantastic job with Gwen Stacy, and between the two told a near-perfect Gwen Stacy story arc. The biggest problem in my mind was the writing and story pacing of Amazing 2—trying to fit Electro, the introduction of Harry Osborn, Harry turning evil, and Gwen’s death in one movie turned out to be a sloppy decision.

But now, with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, we see a third live action interpretation of the character, and even though he’s very different, I’m pleased with the result.

For starters, Holland is young enough to pull off high school Spider-Man. The original Spider-Man film suffered from the classic movie problem of adults playing high schoolers. Even though Holland is an adult, he looks young and I believe his character.

Also, the character dynamics really fit high school Spider-Man. Though it’s easy to complain about the lack of Mary Jane and Harry Osborne, I really like Ned and MJ. Yes, they’re new and different, but they’re also unique. Indeed, if we simply got a regular Mary Jane Watson, people likely would’ve complained that she doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Zendaya’s Michelle/MJ is a hilarious wild card character that plays well with Peter’s awkwardness.

Also, this is the first Spider-Man connected to a bigger world of heroes and villains. Though Spider-Man is a star and can hold his own series by himself, there’s something special about seeing him fight alongside the Avengers and interact with Tony Stark and Nick Fury.

Spider-Man’s Future

All this to say, I’m incredibly excited for what’s next. As a writer, I’ve already thought about where Spider-Man might go next, and I wanted to share that with you.

Keep in mind, this is pure speculation. I’m probably wrong. But if by some chance a Sony executive sees this, you are welcome to take some of these ideas. Just be sure to hit me up if you need someone to write the novelization.

Without any further interruption, here are my ideas: What I would do with the Spider-Man movies…

[SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home will follow. If you haven’t seen it yet, consider yourself warned.]

Spider-Man: Masquerade

You may or may not have noticed, but in Far From Home, one of Mysterio’s associates was a man named Dmitri. Dmitri just so happens to also be the name of The Chameleon, one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains in comics—and he’s also a relative to Kraven the Hunter.

For the next film, Dmitri and the remnants of Mysterio’s team, led now by the former timid scientist who used to work for Stark Industries, enlist the help of Kraven the Hunter to help them take down Spider-Man. Since Peter’s secret identity has been broadcast, Peter goes into hiding. Kraven, Chameleon (now with his advanced shape-shifting tech), and New Mysterio draw him out of hiding, leading to multiple confrontations. In the process, they also recruit and equip man who wears a high-tech rhino costume. After a narrow escape, Peter learns that his classmates are being targeted by Kraven and Chameleon—specifically at Flash’s over-the-top Halloween costume party, where finding the stealthy Kraven and the constantly changing Chameleon to be nearly impossible. But if Peter goes to the party, his friends will bombard him with questions, asking if he’s really Spider-Man and all that.

He goes to the party but tries to lay low and not let anyone know he’s there, but ultimately he’s found out. Sometime during the party, MJ and Ned convince Flash that it would be amazing if he dressed up as Spider-Man as a joke, which leads to video evidence of Spider-Man and Peter in the same room together. In the end, one last confrontation leads to the death of Kraven and the confiscation and arrest of most of the Mysterio tech and team members, including Rhino. Chameleon vows revenge. The Daily Bugle circulates pictures of Spider-Man and Peter, and the menace is blamed for cyber bullying an innocent teenager.

Spider-Man: Graduation

Peter’s high school graduation is approaching, and things seem to be going fine. As Stark Industries declines, Oscorp is making news headlines for its advances in science, and it seems that Norman Osborne is starting to fill the void left by Stark’s death. After the last movie, Flash knows the truth about Peter, but he’s mad. The entire time the world knew Peter was Spider-Man, Flash refused to believe it. Now he knows it’s true, he tries holding it over Peter’s head, but nobody believes him, because The Daily Bugle proved that Peter wasn’t Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Peter gets a part time job with TheDailyBugle.net, which Jameson is happy to oblige to show off Spider-Man’s victim to the world.

But he knows Dmitri is still out there. Peter knows that he’ll be back for revenge, but nobody seems to believe him. As the days go, strange things start happening. Peter sees the same person in two different places. SHIELD employees are being fired for stealing things, they’re caught on camera doing so, but then deny even being at the location.

Peter doesn’t know what Dmitri wants, but he knows Dmitri’s coming for him.

Chameleon ends up finding Adrian Toomes, and makes a deal. Toomes stays in prison, but connects Chameleon to his crew, who still has some advanced salvaged tech from previous alien invasions. Chameleon use this tech for new recruits Scorpion and Shocker, who distract Spider-Man while Chameleon infiltrates SHEILD. Nobody believes Spider-Man until Peter attacks Nick Fury—who happens to have the eye patch on the wrong eye. After a final battle with Chameleon, Chameleon dies, and Shocker and Scorpion end up in prison.

Since SHEILD was compromised, SHEILD strikes a deal with Oscorp and gives the company a government contract to use and protect Toomes’ and Mysterio’s tech, for the advancement of science.

Peter, MJ, Ned, Flash, and the rest of the class all graduate high school. This can be an ending for this iteration of Spider-Man, or it can be a transition to a new story-arc.

If I were in charge, I’d lead this into four more films…

Spider-Man: Symbiosis

First year of college. According to Aunt May’s wishes, Peter agrees to go to college and get a degree before joining SHEILD as a full-time Avenger. Ned goes to a different school, but agrees to always be on standby as Peter’s guy-in-the-chair. MJ goes to the same school, but coincidentally, so does Flash. And, after all they’ve been through, Flash and Peter have a sort of friendship now, which makes Ned jealous. Also a coincidence, Peter’s former love interest Liz Toomes goes to the same school, which causes some drama for Peter and MJ.

During his first year, Peter starts an internship at Oscorp and meets Norman Osborne. Peter learns that Osborne disappeared in Thanos’s snap, and during the five years, his son Harry died tragically. They bond, as Peter is the same age as Harry, but Peter tries keeping his distance, especially after everything that happened with Tony Stark and Quentin Beck.

Meanwhile, after getting into a Twitter feud with J.J. Jameson, journalist Eddie Brock travels to New York to find and expose Spider-Man once and for all. In an altercation, the Venom symbiote transfers from Eddie to Peter, now Eddie has to hunt Peter down to get Venom back.

Things get complicated when Carnage, an old associate of Venom’s, escapes police custody and goes on a killing spree. With Venom back in Eddie, Spider-Man and Venom join forces to take Carnage down.

At the end, all is well. Except for Norman Osborne. He sees how the world keeps getting crazier and crazier. Sees that he was powerless to save Harry, and so were The Avengers. So, right before the credits roll, Norman conducts his most risky experiment on himself—a Captain America-inspired performance enhancer procedure, so he’ll never be powerless again.

Spider-Man: Entanglement

Norman is going crazy, and prepares to make his first move as the Green Goblin. Peter knows something is up and tries confronting him, which leads to their first fight. When Osborn leaves Oscorp, Peter finds on opened file on Norman’s computer—classified information about the multiverse and time travel, including the things Doctor Strange and Scarlett Witch have experienced, as well as Ant-Man’s experience in the Quantum Realm. Peter discovers Norman’s plan to use the multiverse and time travel to save Harry.

Spider-Man finds Green Goblin before he can break the multiverse, but as Norman escapes, Peter is sucked into a portal. Green Goblin, knowing Spider-Man’s identity as Peter Parker, tries finding Peter, but Peter’s missing. Meanwhile, Liz is suspicious when Peter stops coming to classes and is eventually captured along with Ned, Flash, MJ, Aunt May, and Happy by the Green Goblin, who hopes to draw Peter out of hiding.

Meanwhile, Peter wakes up in a parallel universe where this Peter is dead, Ned doesn’t exist, Aunt May is an old woman, MJ is a white redhead named Mary Jane Watson, and Harry Osborne is alive and was Peter’s best friend. As everyone comes to grips with Peter’s appearance, Peter is contacted telepathically by a mutant named Madame Web, who tells him he needs to return to his own world before this one starts to break down by his presence there. As he tries making sense of things, he finds a new Spider-Man trying to avenge Spider-Man’s death. It turns out to be a young teen named Miles Morales. Peter agrees to help Miles avenge local Spider-Man’s death by bringing the killer to justice in exchange for Miles helping Peter and Madame Web make a way for Peter to return home.

Peter returns home just in time to save his friends and family, but Green Goblin escapes…

Spider-Man: Revenge of the Sinister Six

Green Goblin breaks Vulture, Rhino, Shocker, Scorpion, and New Mysterio out of prison, and he uses Oscorp’s tech to upgrade their costumes, and together they vow to have revenge on Spider-Man.

Spider-Man fights them one by one and as a group, but just as he thinks he found a way to win, Green Goblin disappears. By the time Spider-Man finds him, it’s too late. It turns out, Green Goblin was manipulating the other five to keep Spider-Man busy while he worked to procure his secret weapon—the Carnage symbiote.

The Green Goblin is now more powerful and unhinged than ever before, and even the other Sinister Six members help Spider-Man take him down, along with the help of other heroes, like Daredevil. Venom also comes in to help.

Finally, after a long battle, Norman Osborne is captured, the villains surrender, Peter proposes to MJ, Flash and Liz get together, and all is right in the world…until the post credit scene.

Peter returns to his room to find Madame Web and Miles Morales from the parallel universe, along with Toby Maguire Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield Spider-Man, and Emma Stone as a still-living Gwen Stacy.

Which leads to…

Spider-Verse

The ultimate finale event. The Spider-Team must save the multiverse, maybe with cameos from Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, and Scarlet Witch.

Those are my ideas…what do you think? What did I miss? Let me know, and we can geek-out together!