Tobey Maguire is open to returning as Spider-Man, but his Spider-Man return after Spider-Man: No Way Home is unlikely to be a Spider-Man 4. For years, it appeared unlikely that Tobey Maguire would reprise his role as Spider-Man, given that two Spider-Man reboots had occurred since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3.
A legacy Spider-Men crossover became a reality, with Sony and Marvel Studios partnering on an MCU version of Spider-Man and Phase 4, opening the floodgates to the multiverse.
Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returned for Tom Holland’s third MCU Spider-Man film, No Way Home.
If such a crossover seemed implausible previously, Doctor Strange’s magic and the multiverse’s instability allowed Maguire and Garfield to enter the MCU’s Earth-616 and meet Holland’s Spider-Man.
Although No Way Home was a rather self-contained story, nothing in the Spider-Man multiverse film precludes Maguire or Garfield from returning as their respective Spider-Mans at some point.
Maguire’s Next Spider-Man Film May Not Be What Everyone Wants
While Tobey Maguire’s comeback in No Way Home, combined with Sam Raimi’s directing of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, raised the possibility of a Raimi Spider-Man 4 featuring Maguire, such a sequel is not assured.
Instead, it makes far more sense for Tobey Maguire to return as Spider-Man first in Avengers: Secret Wars. Avengers: Secret Wars, set to air in 2026, will be the end of the MCU’s Universe Saga and will involve multiple multiverse crossovers. If the comic book Secret Wars events, particularly 2015 one, are any indication, Secret Wars may be Marvel’s most ambitious movie crossover to date.
It features Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, probably one of the most recognizable renditions of a Marvel character in terms of not only the MCU but also Marvel’s whole filmography. Given that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has appeared in two Avengers films and that Maguire and Garfield returned for No Way Home, three Peter Parkers reuniting in Secret Wars is not out of the question. Secret Wars is a far more realistic Maguire return than Spider-Man 4.
Why Spider-Man 4 Will Be Easier Following Secret Wars
A Spider-Man 4 starring Tobey Maguire is not out of the question. However, it’s unclear whether Sony and Marvel Studios’ pact for Spider-Man and its supporting characters mentions anything about more than one Spider-Man franchise running concurrently. Nonetheless, No Way Home demonstrated how powerful the reintroduction of classic Marvel characters, such as Maguire’s and Garfield’s renditions of Spider-Man, can be since it combines nostalgia with fantasy elements from the multiverse. However, it does not appear likely that Spider-Man 4 or The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be released before Secret Wars or the next MCU Spider-Man film is formally revealed.
If the MCU wants to include as many legendary characters as possible in Secret Wars, continuing Maguire’s story in a self-contained Spider-Man 4 before the MCU’s Phase 6 concludes could complicate matters.
Instead, a prospective Spider-Man 4 might serve as a post-Secret Wars coda to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, a farewell to the character after whatever universe peril the heroes face. Saving a potential Spider-Man 4 sequel for after Avengers: Secret Wars ensures that this heritage sequel does not overwhelm Holland’s Spider-Man before the MCU’s most important film in years.