Where Does The MCU Go After Avengers: Infinity War?

Spider-Man: Homecoming 2

If our dissolved heroes are, in fact, located in a different reality, then there’s more than one reason why the sequel to Spider-Man’s 2017 MCU debut is still being referred to as Spider-Man: Homecoming 2. And that’s because this film will literally be Spider-Man’s ‘homecoming’ after he returns to his original reality in Avengers 4.

Beyond the fact that Jon Watts will be returning to the director’s chair, and that Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are listed as writers, though, not much is known about the sequel just yet. That being said, it’s rumored that the story will pick up immediately after the end of A4, and that the villainous element will be provided by the Sinister Six.

While the introduction of the Six – a group comprised of Spider-Man’s greatest foes – into the MCU is an exciting prospect, it’s the idea of this challenge being presented to a more experienced, battle-tested Spidey that makes this film a highly anticipated franchise installment. The web-slinger has thus far been the eager-yet-innocent addition to the Avengers team, perfectly reflecting his comic book persona, but by the time his first solo sequel rolls around, he’ll have accrued quite some experience.

He endured his own terrifying transition into heroism, in addition to having his first large-scale conflict engagement be against other superheroes in Captain America: Civil War. He learned a great many difficult lessons in his debut solo movie, before facing Thanos – in space – in Infinity War. Presumably, in Avengers 4, he’ll have had to endure the psychological trauma of an alternate reality before somehow finding his way back.

It’ll be fascinating to see how Marvel chooses to demonstrate the impact of these events on this young man – as distinct from the impact of trauma felt by Tony Stark or Steve Rogers in Phases One and Two, for example – given that Peter Parker is written as a very different personality. But the really compelling part will be in seeing how this impact manifests in his dealing with villains.

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter leaned right in, in glorious fashion, to the idea of performing heroism in his own way, according to his own moral compass, leaving behind him a trail of villains wrapped up in web and bearing explanatory notes addressed to law enforcement. Now that he’s painfully aware of just “how fragile this reality is,” though, how will this be reflected in his world-view?