Spider-Man 4 has become one of the most interesting Marvel Cinematic Universe movies on the slate, as it will be the only movie (currently confirmed) to release between the two big event films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. We know that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is at the helm, and that the script was enough to have a franchise star Tom Holland jumping up and down with joy – but beyond that, the biggest point of curiosity has been the recent news that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink has joined the next Spider-Man movie.
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Immediately, the Marvel fandom went into overdrive, trying to predict who Sadie Sink could be playing in the MCU. The guesses weren’t all that imaginative: Sink’s red hair sparked “Mary Jane” or “Jean Grey” guesses – other fans were willing to consider a dye job that would allow Sink to finally bring Felicia Hardy/Blackcat to the Spider-Man films. However, there’s another theory going around that ties Sink to a much more pivotal character – one who could bring the MCU and the animated Spider-Verse films together.
Gwen Stacy’s Ghost-Spider/Spider-Gwen has become one of the most popular characters in Marvel over the last decade, breaking out of comics into the animated movies (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and animated TV series (Spidey and His Amazing Friends), as well as merchandising. The only place that Spider-Gwen hasn’t broken out (yet) is in the live-action films, but the timing oddly aligns for her to make an appearance in Spider-Man 4.
Across the Spider-Verse ended on the cliffhanger of (SPOILERS) Miles Morales accidentally being transported to the home dimension (Earth-42) of the interdimensional spider that gave him his powers. There Miles found a world that never got its Spider-Man, and his own variant self became the evil gang leader The Prowler, a villain who quickly captures Miles as his prisoner. Meanwhile, Gwen went looking for Miles on his homeworld of Earth-1610, only to realize he’d been displaced. Gwen used her Spider Society tech and connections to start hopping dimensions and collecting other Spider-Men as a cavalry to rescue Miles – who’s to say that she doesn’t make a stop on Earth 616?
The Spider Society scenes of Across the Spider-Verse established that these animated films exist in the same multiverse as all three iterations of the live-action Spider-Man movies; Spider-Man: No Way Home has already established this MCU Spider-Man can make buddies with his variants. At the end of the day, fans want to see Peter, Miles, and Gwen web-slinging together at some point in the MCU – maybe that day is coming sooner than we think?
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It would be a major swing (pun) – the exact kind the MCU needs right now. Spider-Man 4 would conceivably see Gwen and Peter making contact as the entire Marvel Multiverse is unraveling – a storyline that could continue into Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse as Gwen and Peter help save Miles and help preserve his world – at least long enough for it to be ripped apart anyway, and the gang of Spider-People all end up on Battleworld for Avengers: Secret Wars. After Secret Wars, the rebooted MCU would have multiple Spider-Man characters to play with, and both the characters and their live-action actors would all be firmly established.
Is Sadie Sink Playing Spider-Gwen In Spider-Man 4?
As stated, most Marvel fans immediately made the most obvious visual associations with Sadie Sink and characters like Jean Grey/Marvel Girl/Phoenix, mostly due to the redhead connection. However, when you consider the animated version of Gwen in the Spider-Verse movies, she’s not too far off from Sadie Sink with a fade haircut.
The live-action Spider-Gwen can’t be played by her animated voice actress, since that voice actress (Hailee Steinfeld) is already playing another live-action MCU character: Kate Bishop/Hawkeye. Animated Gwen (and Miles, guys…) will have to recast for live-action (whether they’re the Spider-Verse characters or new variants), and Sadie Sink isn’t a crazy choice for that. At all (see above).
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Spider-Man 4 has a release date of July 31, 2026.
