Multiverse mayhem may abound in the upcoming Spider-Man threequel, with a host of legacy characters reportedly signing up to return.
Of all the studios to try it hand at an interconnected movie universe, Marvel’s MCU is undoubtedly the most successful attempt. Unsurprising really, given that the company’s publishing arm has been doing it for decades. With the upcoming, as yet untitled Spider-Man 3, it looks like Marvel – in league with Sony (who of course has the screen rights to the Spider-Man character) – is attempting to see how for the experiment can be pushed.
CHRISTMAS FILM MAGAZINE GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS!
Film Stories magazine here.
Film Stories Junior magazine (for under 15s) here.
Try a sample issue of Film Stories for less than half price here.
News has been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter that Alfred Molina, who so memorably played Spider-Man’s nemesis Doctor Octopus in 2004’s Spider-Man 2, directed by Sam Raimi, is returning as the character in the next Spider-Man live action film. This follows the confirmation from a couple of months ago that Jamie Foxx, who portrayed Electro in Marc Webb’s subsequent The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, will also be returning.
The news doesn’t end there either. Collider is reporting that both Andrew Garfield and Kirsten Dunst have also signed up to appear in the film, presumably reprising their roles as Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson from their respective franchises.
Whilst we’re sure Marvel has had the multiverse idea on the horizon for a very long time, the choice to use the Spider-Man films as an entry point to introduce this concept makes sense on several levels. Firstly, alongside Fox’s X-Men films, it has a great number of legacy characters on which to draw. Secondly, the unbridled brilliance of Sony’s animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2019 would not have gone unnoticed at Marvel Studios.
Whatever happens next, the studio has to perform quite a balancing act in the next Spider-Man film with lots and lots happening, without even mentioning the continuation of Tom Holland’s storyline and his version of the Peter Parker character (which ended the last film on quite the cliffhanger). We’ve seen superhero films come undone many times from trying to overload with ideas and characters but if anybody can pull this off, you have to believe Marvel Studios might just do it.
More on this one (and you can bet there will be) as we hear it.
—
Thank you for visiting! If you’d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website:
Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.
Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazines here.
Become a Patron here.
