Not too long ago, the idea of Spider-Man appearing in the MCU seemed like a dream for Marvel fans. The cinematic universe continued to grow, bringing in classic characters as well as some fun new ones, but one of Marvel's biggest names was still absent. Incredibly, Disney and Sony struck a deal to bring Peter Parker aka Spider-Man into the MCU where he quickly became one of its most beloved heroes. With his third solo movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, it seems like big changes are coming for the character, and Tom Holland's Spider-Man might be leaving the MCU. But will another Spider-Man, namely Miles Morales, take his place?
Following the lackluster reception of The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Sony decided they needed a new approach to revitalizing their biggest superhero. With the massive success Marvel was having, a deal was made for Sony and Disney (Marvel's parent company) to share the character so Marvel could work their magic in recreating the hero while also allowing them to use him in other MCU movies. After debuting in Captain America: Civil War, it became clear Marvel's approach to the character really worked and Tom Holland's performance sealed the deal.
RELATED: Spider-Man: No Way Home Needs To Make One Big Improvement
However, Sony still owned the character which made his involvement in the MCU always feel under threat of suddenly ending. Indeed, following the success of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Marvel attempted to renegotiate the deal which abruptly ended the relationship only for the studios to work out a new agreement several months later. But despite Holland's enthusiasm to carry on in the MCU, he recently confirmed his contract is up with Spider-Man: No Way Home.
While Spider-Man has become intertwined in the MCU. Sony has been plotting their own cinematic universe with their Spider-Man-related characters. Movies like Venom and Morbius are helping to establish the universe while countless other spin-offs are on the way. But the one thing that is missing in all of this is Sony's own Spider-Man. With Holland's Peter Parker already established, it makes sense that they would want to eventually take him back from Marvel and use for their own movies. While that would seem to take away one of the MCU's most popular heroes, Peter Parker is not the only Spider-Man out there.
Peter Parker is an iconic comic book character as well as he is the Spider-Man millions of people grew up knowing. However, to a whole new generation of kids, Miles Morales might now be their idea of Spider-Man. Miles debuted in Marvel comics in 2011 as a new spider-powered hero to take over for Peter Parker following his presumed death. The character quickly became a hit with fans and his popularity has only grown more in recent years with his starring roles in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Marvel's Spider-Man. The character has even been established in the MCU as Donald Glover appears in Spider-Man: Homecoming as Aaron Davis, the uncle of Miles, and a deleted scene even has him calling Miles on the phone. Now seems like the perfect time to give the character his proper live-action debut and take over the mantel of Spider-Man within the MCU.
Since Miles is a Spider-Man character, Sony also owns the movie rights to him. But if they are indeed planning to take back Peter Parker after Spider-Man: No Way Home, perhaps they could strike a new deal to let Marvel use Miles as their Spider-Man going forward. But if Sony is willing to part ways with Marvel for the character of Peter Parker, what is in it for them to give Marvel a new character to build their own Spider-Man movies? The simple fact is that the MCU is just good at this whole superhero world thing and Sony knows it. The MCU is a huge cinematic universe filled with countless interesting comic book characters. If Sony was able to play with some of those characters and worlds in exchange for letting Marvel use Miles Morales, that would be a hard deal to pass up.
Miles also seems like the right character to step into the Spider-Man role at this stage of the MCU. In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, Phase 4 of the MCU looks to be addressing the legacy of some of their biggest characters and setting up new heroes to carry the torch into the future. Upcoming MCU projects like Hawkeye, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and She-Hulk seem to be following this trend of replacing key characters. While Tom Holland's Spider-Man still seems relatively new in the MCU, it would make complete sense for Miles to step in as the one to continue the legacy of Spider-Man.
That is not to say that such a deal wouldn't be complicated. Sony's Spider-Man universe looks to including characters from the MCU Spider-Man movies as well as addressing some of the events from those movies. But will they also be addressing aspects of the larger MCU story, or ignoring them? Did "the blip" happen in the world of the Venom movies? It feels like there are already going to be some headaches even without throwing another Spider-Man into the mix. But the opening of the multiverse in the MCU could solve a lot of those problems. Spider-Man: No Way Home could end with Peter entering the multiverse and ending up in a new reality where the Sony Spider-Man movies could exist separately from the MCU.
The future for Spider-Man in the MCU is still unclear at this point, although there certainly are a lot of interesting developments on the horizon. But with such a great character like Miles Morales waiting for his live-action debut, this feels like too perfect of an opportunity to pass up.
MORE: Every Spider-Man Movie Series Got The Same Thing Right