In an attempt to churn the rumor mill, not much has been released about Marvel’s acquisition from Sony and the use of Spiderman in the continuously expanding MCU. So what can we expect in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War and in Spidey’s new dedicated 2017 movie. As of now, not much.
Other than the idea that we will be seeing a brand new Spiderman, sub origin story (seriously, how many more times can we watch Uncle Ben die and Peter go on a small bad boy streak before we get the gist?) and with a brand new baddie yet to be named, it’s been pretty tight-lipped in the case of Spidey’s role in the MCU.
On the comics side of things, anyone who has a faint knowledge of the Civil War story is aware of Spiderman’s allegiance in Civil War, and his reveal of his identity is a major focal point of the entire run of the comics, so it kind of makes sense that he would play a crucial role.
Which is why I believe that the 2017 movie for Spiderman, while focusing on the story of Spidey with a baddie, is also the next run of Civil War. Maybe even Spiderman: Civil War.
Owing a sense of comic-like adaptation, we could see a similar titling to the comics in the movies. Starting with “Captain America: Civil War,” it makes it interesting to think that the Phase III and potentially Phase IV movies are each their own entry into the Civil War story. Let’s be honest, only one iteration of Civil War would be massively underwhelming and taking a hiatus would kind of jar a lot of the continuous storyline
What we do know:
Spiderman’s introduction in Captain America could be a major role, or a minor/major cameo that sets the stage for a Spiderman introduction into the MCU as a way for us to see and be like “okay, so he does exist.” in the theater.
He is set to face a villain that we have not seen yet in any of the current storylines. Say goodbye to Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Venom, Lizard and Electro. Do we think that Rhino falls in that? Maybe. Aleksei Sytsevich’s appearance in The Amazing Spiderman 2 was small and comical, but it’s still someone we have seen already.
Not to take away from the actual movie itself, Spiderman will face off against a new villain, rumored to be either Kraven The Hunter or more recently, the Shocker or even Kingpin. Obviously, the third showing of Green Goblin would have been redundent, Doc Ock was easily forgettable in my opinion and the mess of villains from S3, ASM and ASM2 were a jumbled mess of trying to expand way too quickly. It was like using an air compressor to blow up a whoopee cushion, it expands fast, but all you’re left with is a silly outcome.
By introducing a good secondary villain, you encourage character growth and the ability to insert another sub-plot. Yes, the Civil War plot. Kevin Feige has touched on this, stating that MCU characters will appear in the film much like he appears in CA: CW.
Tom Holland might have actually been a good choice for Peter Parker/Spiderman, just because he looks the part. He is likely drawing inspiration from the Ultimate series, but not leaving the other ones out. I am still personally on the side of Andrew Garfield as the perfect Peter and web-slinger, just because build wise and sarcastic attitude fit the movies really well. I am, however, in full belief that Holland was chosen for a reason, other than the fact he passed tests with both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.
If what I believe is correct, we can expect RDJ to be a major background character. Tony Stark/Iron Man is probably going to feature strongly in the next few movies, clearly defining the two sides of Captain America vs Iron Man. Potentially, if what I feel can happen, we will see the eventual passing of the Iron Spider suit. We already know that he will wear the classic 1966-esque suit throughout the movie, but who’s to say he can’t wear both?
Since Captain America is a title character story with the overlay of additional characters, it serves to wonder if they are going to do that with Spidey and even Black Panther when he gets his major film debut.
Of course, this is me spinning my wheels. But I just have a hard time believing that the film is just for another reboot of the wall crawler, since most, if not all, of the MCU movies tie together. There’s no way that Marvel and Sony would have agreed to such a large deal if there wasn’t a bigger plan in action.
