It was a confusing ride for a while there, but it seems like a fact now that Tom Holland won’t feature as Peter Parker in the upcoming Venom solo movie, meaning Sony’s string of Spider-Man-less spinoff movies won’t have any connections to the MCU. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see our friendly neighborhood hero in these films.
One optimistic fan has come up with a theory on Reddit, suggesting that Andrew Garfield from Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies could return for Venom and beyond, turning up for the odd cameos to give the various spinoffs – including Silver & Black and Morbius – some connective tissue.
Here’s how user @Animation_Bat describes their idea:
The upcoming Venom movie is supposed to be the first film in Sony’s Marvel Universe. There has been rumors and speculation that it could be connected to the MCU. But I don’t see it ever being connected to the MCU.
The director said that Venom may be R-rated, which would make it the only R-rated MCU film. Sony also has movies starring Silver & Black, Silk, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and Night Watch, all in various stages of development. Sony plans on making their own cinematic universe and there seems to be no way that it will be able to connect to the planned continuity of the MCU. Tom Hardy is 40, much older than Tom Holland who’s 22 and playing a teenage Spider-Man. Meanwhile Andrew Garfield is 34, and his Spider-Man seems to fit in better with the new Venom film.
Andrew Garfield was under contract to play Spider-Man for multiple films through 2020. It’s unclear if Andrew Garfield was completely freed of his contract, or if he’s obligated to return if Sony asks him back. Venom takes place in San Francisco, so it would explain why Spider-Man isn’t there.
I could see Andrew Garfield showing up in cameos and supporting roles in Sony’s Marvel films. That way, the only movie staring Spider-Man would be the MCU films starring Tom Holland, while the Sony movies would put the focus on other characters, with an older Spider-Man played by Andrew Garfield showing up to serve as the link between the Sony films.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man would be similar to Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. Showing up only in team up films and movies that star other characters.
As fun as this would be, we can’t really see it being the case, in all honesty. Though Garfield’s Spidey has a cult following, his duo of movies are not all that beloved, so Sony probably wouldn’t want to tie their new films in with those disappointing efforts. More pertinently, it could be a stipulation of Sony’s deal with Marvel Studios that they can’t actually use Spider-Man as a character. In theory, Marvel could have an issue with a rival webslinger crawling around.
That said, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will feature a whole bunch of other Spider-Men, so who knows? The animated film will well and truly get moviegoers used to the concept of multiple Peter Parkers and could be a sneaky way for Sony to prepare fans for the return of Andrew Garfield. Like the fan theorist says, there’s little chance that the actor will appear in Venom, as we’d definitely know by now, but he could still turn up in the studio’s other Spidey-related projects.
