Given that Spider-Man has three separate live action reboots, something even the X-Men don't have yet, and now they've all been incorporated into the current corporate umbrella, there's really no telling what we could get next. Yeah, a Tom Holland film is pretty likely, given the last scene of NWH, but people have been speculating on a possible Amazing Spider-Man 3, or even a Spider-Man 4. Since I have nothing important or relevant to share with anyone, I will instead talk about what I would want from these properties, should they ever see the light of day. Who knows, it might happen.
Tom Holland Sequel
I'll start with this since it's the most likely to happen. Oh and uh, spoilers for NWH I guess, but if you haven't seen it yet why are you even here?
So at the end of No Way Home, we find Peter Parker at a very low point, but one with a lot of potential. He has no access to high-level technology, he's made his own suit out of actual fabric, and he's poor and alone with no friends, no money, and a shitty apartment. It's a great starting place! If they don't screw it up.
What I would like to see is a street-focused plot. No big cosmic stakes, no magic, no involvement with other heroes. Something that threatens the normal people of New York, and Spider-Man has to stop it. It would be a good chance to have some of the weirder villains, some of the lesser-known Silver Age stuff. My dream would be to have Big Wheel as a villain, even if he's not the main one, ideally played by Brendan Fraser. I would nominate The Spot, but Across the Spider-Verse picked him already, and will likely do a better job than any live action film could hope for. Maybe someone like the Crime Master or Tombstone, crime lords that hold a grudge, raising the stakes in a more believable way.
Since the entire supporting cast has been cut off, it would be nice to have a spotlight on some as-yet-unseen supporting characters. Maybe Randy Robertson lives in the same apartment building, and he meets Debra Whitman during his travels. The supporting cast for Spider-Man over its run is just tremendous, but we've been stuck with the same Coffee Bean cast for every iteration so far. There's more options than just Mary Jane, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson here!
I've seen a lot of suggestions for Black Cat to appear, and while I don't think that would be a bad idea, it would conflict with ideas I have for the other Spider-Men, but I'll get to that later.
Mainly, I want this film to be about Peter Parker making it on his own, struggling with his split time, his money, and trying to keep his life going through personal tragedy. It's what I like best from Spider-Man and they've finally set up this particular iteration to fulfill that. Instead of using Iron Man technology, I want what the Insomniac Spider-Man game referred to as "guerilla science," Peter using scraps to create what he needs in the moment, without support from higher up. A scene where after losing a fight, he has to whip up some gadget from a disassembled radio, a DVD player, and a sewing machine instead of accessing another function on his highly technological suit. That's the shit I like.
I don't know what he could do for work that wouldn't rehash the stuff from Spider-Man 2. He ain't exactly got credentials, so college might be out of the picture. Does he have a social security card? Can he get a job? The magic fuckery makes it unknown what exactly he can do to put food on the table. Photographer is the standard backup, and I guess I can't disagree, but there's gotta be something else he could do. It's up in the air, and I don't really have strong opinions about it,
The Amazing Spider-Man 3
So this is much more of an open question. The mere possibility of this film is fan speculation, mostly people demanding it after No Way Home made everyone love Andrew Garfield. It's not even clear if Garfield would be willing to do this, as I've seen unsubstantiated stuff from that Sony leak a few years back that suggested he was fed up with the Cape Movie machine. But! He did come back for NWH, so not all hope is lost.
The suggestion I've seen the most from fans here is the addition of Spider-Gwen, to which I must respond: Please no, god, no, no. Absolutely not.
If they're going to have a Spider-Gwen (or Spider-Woman or Ghost Spider) in live action, just make a solo film for Pete's sake. Gwen just died in the last film, and it would be much more interesting to see Peter deal with another romantic interest in the wake of his grief than bring an alternate version of her over, only she has spider powers now. Just give us someone new! I just want grief without any multiversal shenanegans to make it stupid!
So, who could we have instead? I would nominate Black Cat. Felicia Hardy made a cameo in ASM 2, working for Oscorp, which is easy enough to explain as one step in some heist Hardy was pulling off. Maybe some technology she stole could make her a more effective thief, I dunno. I think the dynamic would be nice, if Black Cat is only interested in Spider-Man instead of Peter Parker, and Peter deals with his grief by being Spider-Man more often. Not to mention the best thing about the Amazing films have been the romantic chemistry and Black Cat was a major romantic interest for Peter, so it could work out quite well.
Now, for supporting cast, Harry Osborn is out the window, seeing as how he got Goblin'd up last movie. I say: Bring back Flash Thompson. He's been the only movie Flash I'd want to see again, and there's a lot you can do with him. Maybe he joined the military offscreen, and has to deal with that at the same time he deals with Gwen's death. There's a strong friendship between Peter and Flash in the comics, which has never been portrayed well in other media, as far as I can tell. Let's finally get some of that in live action! If they get Flash, I don't care as much about other characters.
Since Peter was doing photography for the Daily Bugle in ASM 2, it would make sense for him to continue that and even make it his full-time gig for this one. Though that would involve yet another iteration of J. Jonah Jameson and the Bugle crew, I'm not sure if they'd go for it. Maybe Robertson could run the show, and you spotlight other reporters, like Ben Urich. If the newsroom stuff is more centered, it could work. I could see some shenanegans where Peter has to convince a seasoned journalist that he's not Spider-Man, and there's ambiguity as to whether it actually worked.
I just want this film to reckon with what happened in ASM 2, see Peter deal with his loss and continue his life beyond it. Andrew's portrayal of Peter in NWH was one of the best, and I want to see more. Hopefully they don't screw it up, if a third installment is even in the cards.
Spider-Man 4
Yeah so this one is just completely out there, very little chance of this ever happening. But why not! A man can dream!
Now, an older Spider-Man is not something we've seen here much. The best example is something like Peter B. Parker from Spider-Verse. I don't think Tobey could pull it off the same way though. A suggestion I've seen thrown around a lot is to bring the focus away from him, and onto his daughter with Mary Jane, effectively making this a Spider-Girl film. I'd be all up for that! Of course, this is also my hope for Across the Spider-Verse, and if I had to pick one it would have to be in Verse.
If we had a bit of a timeskip showing Peter eventually giving up being Spider-Man and starting a family, you could effectively do a Spider-Girl origin story, though without a lot of her extended cast, because they have either been killed off (Normie Osborn) or never existed (Kaine, Dark Devil, Black Cat, the rest.) It might be nice, though if it's under the Marvel umbrella I would likely be disappointed.
Honestly, I think I'd like a TV show for Spider-Girl more. Yeah, the continuity might be confusing, but it serves well enough as a standalone for people sick of the interweaving complexities of current Marvel TV. Gimme some teen drama! I'd be surprised enough that anyone even remembers Spider-Girl exists, since Spider-Gwen showed up and took all the limelight owed to Mayday. This is all a pipe dream anyway, so just let me have this one.
So yeah! Without any announcements or rumors, all we really have to go on is our own hopes and dreams for any of these films. And if I know anything, it's that my specific hopes and dreams do not happen. I may have prevented any of these things from occurring simply by writing this. Oops. I sure hope you wanted something different than I did.
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