Even though No Way Home has only been in theaters for a matter of days, with audiences losing their minds over the multiversal extravaganza, it won’t be too long before the focus shifts towards Tom Holland’s fourth solo Spider-Man movie.
All we know so far is that it’s definitely happening, with Kevin Feige confirming that discussions are already underway as to what comes next for the web-slinger, with the narrative expected to follow Peter Parker as he deals with an altogether different set of personal, professional and superheroic trials and tribulations at college.
In an interview with The New York Times, Sony producer Amy Pascal admitted that while we shouldn’t be expecting the future of the Spider-Man franchise to revolve around surprise cameos and fan service, the next batch of sequels will be diving deeper into Peter’s emotional core.
“Not every Spider-Man movie is going to be a multitude of characters. That approach was right for this one. You can’t think about topping yourself in terms of spectacle. Otherwise movies just get larger and larger for no reason, and it’s not a good result. But we do want to always try and top ourselves in terms of quality and emotion.
Kevin and I never want to lose sight of one thing: Peter Parker. That he’s a normal kid. That he is orphaned over and over again. That he’s a teenager, so everything in his life is at a heightened pitch and everything matters more than anything. That he’s fueled by goodness and guilt. That he’s striving for a greater cause, and he’s vilified by the press.”
It’s going to be hard to top No Way Home in terms of sheer scale and spectacle, so stripping things back to narrow the focus is about the smartest decision Sony and Marvel can make. Holland is a phenomenal actor that’s often been pushed to the fringes of his own story, so it would be nice to see a Spider-Man tale where the focus falls squarely on him and not the myriad of esteemed guest stars.
