Will Spider-Man Be in Avengers: Doomsday & Which Versions Are Most Likely To Appear?

Marvel Studios made the curious decision to make Spider-Man: Brand New Day the final Marvel Cinematic Universe film release prior to Avengers: Doomsday. That’s raised a lot of questions in the minds of Marvel fans – starting with whether or not Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will be around to participate in Doomsday. The stakes couldn’t be higher: we know that MCU heroes (Earth-616) and heroes from the Fox X-Men Universe (Earth-10005) will finally collide, with the Fantastic Four (Earth-828) and presumably others caught in the crossfire, while Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) seeks to seize control of the multiverse for himself.

However, when Brand New Day takes place, Peter Parker is living a very earthbound life as a true, blue “Neighborhood Spider-Man.” Even with characters like The Punisher and The Hulk crashing into his world, it seems like Spider-Man is far away from the sort of cosmic shenanigans that will be unfolding in Avengers: Doomsday. But does that mean the same is true for his Spider-Man: No Way Home pals, Peter 2 (Tobey Maguire) and Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield)?

Will Spider-Man Return For Avengers: Doomsday?

There has been a massive cast already revealed for Avengers: Doomsday, but not everyone made it onto the call sheet, including Tom Holland. And, even though Holland’s name is (one of many) being quietly mentioned as “expected to return” in the film, these days we only settle for guarantees. Officially, Tom Holland is not in Avengers: Doomsday, and the film doesn’t necessarily need him.

As stated, Brand New Day will see a street-level Spider-Man taking on threats like the ninja of The Hand, and the Gangster Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), while getting aid from other street heroes like The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and possibly Daredevil (Charlie Cox). That’s a major street hero event film in the making; could it be that Marvel Studios has finally clocked years of fan advice, and is creating “grounded” superhero movies and more fantastical, comic book-y movies as two separate lanes? If that’s the case, it would be understandable why the street vigilantes of NYC don’t end up getting to team up with the likes of Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) Avengers, or the government-sponsored New Avengers (aka The “Thunderbolts”). Especially when the mission could be facing off against and possibly killing off entire other universes. Who wants to bring a kid like Spider-Man along for that? If anything, it would make sense for the Avengers to fight this battle so that heroes like Spider-Man still have an Earth to protect.

Avengers: Doomsday Almost Certainly Has More Than One Spider-Man

We can title this section with a small amount of confidence that it’s true: Many of the supposed Avengers: Doomsday plot leaks have all agreed on one thing: the other Spider-Man movie stars will be part of the action.

(POTENTIAL PLOT SPOILER #1) One leak claims that the very first sequence in Avengers: Doomsday will be an incursion on Earth-96283, the home of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, with Peter 2 getting portaled away at the last second.

(POTENTIAL PLOT SPOILER #2) Another leak claims that Peter 2 is warped away by the TVA as part of a larger mission: the formation of the “Multiversal Avengers.” That team (whose roster we won’t spoil in its entirety) is said to include both Peter 2 and Peter 3, who are featured in a pivotal battle to protect the TVA.

While none of the above is confirmed, it is definitely hard to imagine that Maguire and Garfield won’t be part of Avengers: Doomsday. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that there is going to be a lot of meta subtext to what happens in the film, and much of it is geared toward giving an entire generation of pre-MCU Marvel movie stars the final, epic, farewell event they deserve.

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In that context, it makes perfect sense for Doomsday to feature Maguire and Garfield more than, or instead of, Tom Holland. Holland will get to shine bright in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and (as the title implies) will likely have an arc in Avengers: Secret Wars and the rebooted MCU that follows it. Maguire’s Spider-Man definitely deserves to stand alongside his fellow 2000s superhero movie pioneers, the X-Men, and who doesn’t want Garfield back for one more witty, winking performance?

Shooting for the moon would be getting a moment in Avengers: Doomsday that reunites the three Peters from Spider-Man: No Way Home; heck, throw Tom Hardy’s Venom in there and really go wild!

With so many unbelievable appearances already set for the film, nothing feels like it’s completely off the table or too impossible. Which is exactly what Marvel Studios wants you to be thinking until Avengers: Doomsday gets here on December 18th. Let us know how you feel about Spider-Man’s place in the MCU right now, over on the ComicBook Forum!