Marvel’s Studio’s big boss Kevin Feige recently told Entertainment Weekly that other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters could appear in the new not-yet-named Spider-Man stand alone movie starring Tom Holland.
While this news initially led to some character-overload-induced PTSD (I’m looking at you Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3) the possibilities of Spidey being joined by some amazing friends is pretty intriguing. Chances are this will be more of a “Falcon in Ant-Man” than “Falcon in Winter Soldier” situation. Still, it wasn’t that long ago that we thought we’d never be able to see the Webslinger team up with anyone on the big screen.
So who could it be? Let’s run down some Vegas-style odds.
THE LONG SHOTS
Guardians of the Galaxy
Peter Parker meets Peter Quill? Unless both of them sharing the same first name is a running joke through the movie I just can’t see this team up happening. Also, the Guardians are in SPACE. Marvel isn’t doing Spidey in Space until at least the third sequel. On top of everything else, and this might be the most important reason, Marvel hasn’t seemed keen on the idea of paring the Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot with anyone else.
ODDS: 1/100
Anyone From Netflix
When I was a kid my favorite comics were the team ups between Daredevil and Spidey. They made a good team and share a major common enemy: Kingpin. In the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon he teams up with Luke Cage and Iron Fist. However, the Netflix MCU members are already slated to team up with each other. Plus, whether it’s Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage or Punisher the Netflix MCU is so much darker than the movie MCU. Just doesn’t seem like a match.
ODDS: 1/75
The New Guys
Black Panther and Doctor Strange seem unlikely since their stand alone movies haven’t been released yet. Of the two Doctor Strange is the more likely candidate, but even then is Marvel going to take Spidey’s first movie into the mystical realm.
ODDS: 1/50
THE UNDERDOGS
The Sidekicks
Falcon, Winter Soldier, War Machine, Hawkeye and (unfortunately) Black Widow are already playing second fiddle to other heroes (most of them to Captain America). Any of them could make an appearance similar to Falcon in Ant-Man but it seems like that well is drying up. Plus– if Black Widow has to play a sidekick in yet another movie (Iron Man 2 & Captain America: Winter Soldier), Marvel is going to face some serious backlash. Just give Black Widow her own movie already.
ODDS: 1/30
Hulk
Another hero with a history of Spidey team ups. This is your ultimate big buddy/small buddy match up (sort of a super Ren and Stimpy). While I think there is a lot of room for fun here, it doesn’t seem very likely. Hulk is currently MIA, mostly like in space somewhere, and it sounds like the big guy already has a buddy film lined up in Thor: Ragnarock.
ODDS: 1/25
Thor
Maybe Thor is best served to be a team-up guy. His stand alone movies have been among the worst Marvel has made, but is a solid part of the Avengers. Thor’s serious demeanor and the fact that he’s still learning Earth’s culture could make him a fun straight man for Spider-Man. But like Hulk, he’s already had a buddy film coming out so a second seems less than ideal so I gave them the same odds.
ODDS: 1/25
Ant-Man
There aren’t enough jokes and quips to go around for Peter Parker and Scott Lang. While I like the spider/ant connection, this is another that seems unlikely. Besides, Ant-Man is slated for a team-up movie in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
ODDS: 1/20
YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE
Captain America
Apparently on opposite sides of Civil War these two would be awesome to see on the same side. This would set up as a mentor/student sort of setup as Cap could teach Peter Parker what it means to be a hero. While there’s some potential here, I could see a scenario where Captain America’s presence would be too distracting in a movie aiming to establish Spider-Man as cornerstone of the MCU.
ODDS: 1/15
Second-Tier Avengers
We’re talking Vision, Scarlett Witch and Quicksliver. There are two things going for this group. First, they all have a history of team up or against Spidey in the comics, so there’s some source material. Second, they have the least amount of exposure of all the established MCU characters and there are no plans for stand alone movies for them at this point.
Working against them? Quicksilver is most likely dead, so that’s a problem. Vision seems like a weird fit to me. Scarlet Witch seems like the most likely candidate of the three, but does Spidey need another woman in his life?
ODDS: 1/10
THE FOOL’S BET
Iron Man
A lot of reason to think Tony Stark is the most likely to appear. Robert Downey, Jr. has appeared in the most MCU movies (three Iron Man movies, two Avengers, 1 Captain America, and a brief appearance at the end of The Incredible Hulk). We already know that Spider-Man is on Team Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War (at least in the trailer) so it makes since that Tony Stark and “Underoos” would team up here. If it means there’s a chance we get to see Iron Spider I’m all for it.
There’s one big problem here: there’s a chance Tony dies in Civil War. One work around could be to make this movie a prequel to Civil War and explain how the two end up on the same side.
ODDS: If Tony survives Civil War- 1/5. If he dies- 1/100
THE FAVORITE
Nick Fury
We saw last saw Fury at the end of Age of Ultron, but we haven’t seen him mentioned in Civil War. So where does the former leader of Shield stand? I guess only Feige knows. Still, Samuel L. Jackson is my odds-on favorite. Jackson has appeared in more MCU movies than everyone but Downey, Jr. and has even made cameos in Marvel’s Agents of Shield. He’s like the rug in The Dude’s room… he ties the whole universe together.
You could use Fury in one of two ways, either as small presence in the end credits or you could even steal the premise from Ultimate Spider-Man and have Fury come in to train Spider-Man to be a better, more efficient hero. Either works for me.
ODDS: 2/3
Those are my odds. What do you think? Leave a comment and let’s talk.
