Peter Parker is in high school in the original Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and all three Jon Watts Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man solo movies. In Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, he’s a studio at Columbia University. In other words, every solo Spidey movie has had him in school at some level. While this could change for Tom Holland’s version in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it seems unlikely. A plotline in Spider-Man: No Way Home involved him, MJ, and Ned being rejected by MIT, so they’re naturally now college age in the upcoming film.
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What we need is a bit of a change-up, and we know how that should happen: as a continuation of the Tobey Maguire Parker’s storyline. And Mattson Tomlin, co-writer of the forthcoming The Batman Part II, wants to get such a project off the ground and in front of viewers’ eyes.
What Did Tomlin Say About His Take on Spider-Man 4?
Tomlin’s idea is to have Parker experiencing a more difficult balance between being a superhero and a regular human being than ever before. Specifically, he would be a father, perpetually struggling to fulfill his responsibilities as a parent while continuing to serve as the savior of his city.
The most exciting aspect of the X Q&A seen above is how he confirms he hasn’t been given a solid no by Sony yet. No Way Home undoubtedly revived interest in continuing both Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s respective Spider-Man films, so never say never to a fourth Raimi era film transferring from pipe dream to reality. The question is, would Raimi direct? It would certainly be fan wish fulfillment.
Sony notoriously had trouble getting its non-Venom Sony’s Spider-Man Universe films off the ground, but as the massive interest in Holland’s third solo adventure proved, the audience is still very much there for Maguire’s take on the character. As soon as he popped up on the screen auditoriums across the world broke out in a roar. The same could be said of when Garfield showed his face, but it was even louder for Maguire.
In No Way Home, Parker was 19 years older than he was during the events of Spider-Man 3, so he was undoubtedly already a father when we last saw him. After Maguire Peter and Garfield Peter relay their traumas to Holland Peter, who just lost his version of Aunt May, they get to work on crafting cures for Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, and Electro. While collaborating in Holland Peter’s school lab, Maguire Peter mentions how his and Mary Jane’s relationship was complicated for a long time, but they ended up making it work.
In short, if Maguire’s Parker has kids, Mary Jane is the mother, so a prospective Spider-Man 4 would need to get Kirsten Dunst. And considering how she quasi-joked to Town & Country about how she would like to star in another mega movie soon, she would most likely be up for returning to the role of Mary Jane Watson for the first time in over 18 years.
No Way Home really did open the door for a Spider-Man 4 or The Amazing Spider-Man 3. It would be great to learn how the Garfield and Maguire Peters cope now that they know for sure that there are universes outside their own. It would be interesting to see how the magnitude of such a concept would affect Maguire Peter’s parenting style.
As far as core plotlines go, Peter’s balancing parental responsibilities, being a husband, and suiting up could very well be the best of the four Maguire movies. Balancing his newfound abilities with wanting to be a boyfriend was great in Spider-Man, balancing the stress of struggling in college with affected Spidey abilities was fantastic in Spider-Man 2, and the balance between controlling anger and letting all other aspects of his life slip away was interesting on paper in Spider-Man 3, but this tightrope walk would be the most interesting and, of course, perfectly fitting with how the Maguire movies have always functioned.
But the focus on Peter Parker was only one half of the classic, moving coin that was Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. And, while it wouldn’t make much sense to finally see Dylan Baker turn into Lizard at this point, they could still go with the plan for Spider-Man 4 all those years back: cast John Malkovich as Vulture. It wouldn’t even need to be Vulture, since Michael Keaton already did such a wonderful job with the character in the MCU, just get Malkovich in there, especially considering how he just had his scenes cut from fellow Marvel movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
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