If kids are the future, then the MCU’s youngest (almost) Avenger is a great place to start. Now that Marvel Studios have finally managed to wrestle some control over their most popular comic book character they can start truly making the most of him. Spidey’s relationship with Sony has gotten sour and the movies sadly went from bad to worse in recent years. In hindsight, that turned out to be a great thing, of course, as it paved the way for his MCU debut in 2016. Having frequently topped polls about the most popular Marvel heroes and with Tom Holland making the role his own, Spider-Man would be the no-brainer choice to take up the franchise’s ambassador role.
As the well-meaning up-and-comer, Spider-Man is the embodiment of integrity and heroism. He’s already impressed a number of existing Avengers in his two movie appearances thus far and is slated to have a large role to play in Avengers: Infinity War next year. It’s a simple calculation. He’s becoming respected and welcomed by fellow heroes in the universe itself while fans in the real world will still go crazy for anything featuring the wall-crawler.
It’s also particularly helpful that Tom Holland is a likeable sort as well. Throughout his time with the MCU, the young Brit has proved to be a fan favourite. He’s charming and goofy enough to make it easy to see how he landed the role as Peter Parker in the first place (though the fact he can do a standing backflip no doubt helped), and he’s always game for some good promo work. At this stage, Holland is fitting the RDJ mould to a tee. Surely it’s only a matter of time before Marvel Studios recognize this and let him step up to the big leagues?
Even if the studio heads deem him a little young for such a jump, however, Spider-Man is not the only character capable of leading the MCU in a similar vain to RDJ.
