Marvel Studios Superheroes Who Could Co-Star in Spider-Man 3

Another Marvel team-up is expected for Spider-Man 3, but which one of the wall-crawler's amazing [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Another Marvel team-up is expected for Spider-Man 3, but which one of the wall-crawler's amazing friends will swing into the first feature produced under the new deal between Sony Pictures and Disney-owned Marvel Studios? Spider-Man (Tom Holland) grounded the Vulture (Michael Keaton) while thwarting the villain's plot against Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in Spider-Man: Homecoming before unraveling the web of lies conjured by disgruntled ex-Stark employee Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), a.k.a. master of illusions Mysterio, in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Following the death of mentor Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, a vacationing Peter Parker was recruited for a high-stakes mission by one-eyed super-spy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), later revealed to be shape-shifting Skrull Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who was standing in for Fury while the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was off-planet.

Far From Home ended with Mysterio's gang exposing Spider-Man's secret identity on national television with a doctored tape released through outspoken TheDailyBugle.net pundit J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), whose exposé gives the jailed Mac Gargan (Michael Mando) information he failed to pry from an imprisoned Adrian Toomes in Homecoming.

It's not yet known if Gargan will suit up as Scorpion to carry out his vendetta against Peter Parker — or if a new enemy will join the hunt for a fugitive Spider-Man framed for murder — but the troubled teen superhero might need to call on his fellow Avengers in Spider-Man 3.

Rescue (Pepper Potts)

Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who suited up alongside husband Tony Stark as the armored Rescue when defending Earth against Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his army in Avengers: Endgame, could be a helpful resource for Peter if he's on the run. Pepper has access to the Stark technology used by Peter to synthesize his own upgraded Spider-Man suit aboard one of Stark's private jets later destroyed by missile-firing drones in Far From Home.

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War Machine

Another Stark contact likely to assume Peter's innocence is Tony's longtime best friend, military man James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), who fought alongside Spider-Man when Stark recruited the rookie superhero to apprehend outlaw Avengers in Captain America: Civil War. Cheadle's contract with Marvel Studios expired with Avengers: Endgame, but the star has expressed a willingness to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying future films can "go anywhere with [War Machine] now."

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Doctor Strange

Close to home is sorcerer superhero Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who begrudgingly teamed with Tony and Peter in Avengers: Infinity War. The standoffish master of the Mystic Arts might be less accommodating than his Marvel Comics counterpart — one of Spider-Man's most trusted allies who has used his abilities to help the wall-crawler out of a pinch more than once — but after witnessing Tony's universe-saving sacrifice in Endgame, the sorcerer could have an openness to helping if he's able to be reached. Stranger things have happened.

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Falcon / Captain America (Sam Wilson)

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a.k.a. the high-flying Falcon, grappled with a talkative Spider-Man alongside Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in Captain America: Civil War, but it's been some eight years since the signing of the Sokovia Accords — and Sam knows how it feels to be pursued by the law, having formed the unofficial "Secret Avengers" with then-fugitives Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in-between the events of Civil War and Infinity War.

Whether or not Sam embraces the Captain America identity by the end of upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the series could maneuver him into position to help defend Peter's liberty in Spider-Man 3.

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Daredevil

Peter Parker might face a different kind of battle in Spider-Man 3: a legal one. Hell's Kitchen lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), secretly the horn-headed vigilante Daredevil, could cross paths with the wall-crawler if he seeks help at the law firm Nelson, Murdock and Page.

Recent rumors claimed Marvel Studios assumed full control of the Daredevil rights earlier than expected, but more reputable sources reported characters from the Netflix-owned Daredevil couldn't appear in other projects until two years post-cancellation — meaning, if the original deal stands, Marvel Studios couldn't incorporate Murdock or other Daredevil characters until late November 2020, some four months after the planned production start of Spider-Man 3. Still, despite the cancellation of the fan-favorite series, Cox remains hopeful for a Daredevil and Spider-Man team-up.

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The Fantastic Four

Spider-Man could come into contact with the Fantastic Four, as he did in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #1, which started an enduring friendship between the wall-crawler and Marvel's first family: Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. Marvel Studios has yet to formally announce a rebooted Fantastic Four film since gaining the rights in Disney's $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox entertainment properties in 2019, but president and producer Kevin Feige has plans for the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Spider-Man sequel could be used as a launching pad for the rebooted team of superheroes-slash-adventurers, similar to the approach Marvel took in launching the Marvel Studios-produced Spider-Man and Black Panther franchises: both characters appeared as supporting players in Civil War before headlining their own films.

Sony and Marvel's untitled Spider-Man 3 is scheduled to open July 16, 2021.

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