For the most part, and despite Tom Holland’s shocking ability to seemingly spoil everything, Phase 4 of the MCU has been kept mostly under wraps.
While we know that Spider-Man: Far From Home will act as a post-Endgame epilogue to Phase 3, with the film focusing on Peter Parker (and Mysterio!) dealing with the ramifications of Thanos’ snap, Kevin Feige and co. haven’t told us a whole lot about what comes next. And long may that continue, as we’ve no doubt that they’ve got a ton of surprises in store for us.
This being the MCU, though, there are always going to be leaks and rumors circulating and the latest comes to us courtesy of an interesting casting call, which seemingly confirms earlier reports that Norman Osborn has been earmarked as the MCU’s next big bad. Though it doesn’t explicitly state his name, when you dig into it, it all fits together rather nicely.
You see, the casting call is looking for someone to play a character known only as The Benefactor. Clearly, that’s a codename, but Marvel is apparently seeking “a male actor, preferably Caucasian, in their 40s to 60s,” to bring to life a “mysterious and nefarious benefactor.”
That on its own would be enough to throw the speculation into overdrive, but it’s even more intriguing when you remember that in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Sonny Burch was working for a wealthy benefactor, and many fans have thought ever since the sequel’s release that said benefactor was Norman Osborn.
Again, there’s been no firm confirmation that it’s indeed the iconic villain that Marvel is now casting, but the evidence is certainly mounting and with any luck, maybe we’ll get some concrete answers after Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2nd.
