“People need to believe…and nowadays…they’ll believe anything.”
It’s that time of year again. The third installment of the MCU Spider-Man franchise has officially undergone production. People have started to grow anxious, waiting for any sort of detail they can get their hands on. But with so many rumors, theories, and speculation floating around, it’s hard for people to tell the difference between what’s real, what’s rumored, and what’s just plainly false. So I’ll be introducing a new series for Murphy’s Multiverse I’ll call “Grounding.”
Grounding Techniques are more commonly used to help a person alleviate negative symptoms, usually during panic attacks, PTSD flashbacks, overthinking symptoms. It helps the person focus on what is happening around them physically with something they can feel with one of their 5 senses, therefore knowing it’s real. I’ve decided to use the same principle but to help us understand what we TRULY know about a certain production and discern what’s been confirmed & what’s pure speculation.
real: SPIDER-MAN 3 PICKS UP AFTER THE EVENTS OF FAR FROM HOME
The last time we saw Peter Parker was during the post-credit scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Spider-Man was framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio and his identity was exposed to the entire world, before leaving us with a massive cliffhanger that has had fans expecting more. It is more likely than not that this plot point will be addressed in the upcoming Spider-Man sequel and we’ll know the immediate reactions of the people around him and the world. Will he be branded a murderer? Will people defend the friendly-neighborhood web-slinger? Only time will tell.
rumor: SPIDER-MAN 3 will follow a Spider-Verse storyline.
This is perhaps the biggest rumor floating around social media and all news sites. Ever since Jamie Foxx’s casting in the film as Electro and his deleted Instagram post teasing a possible Multiverse storyline, fans of the franchise and many sites have run rampant, speculating the idea that Spider-Man 3 will perhaps become a Spider-Verse film that many fans have been clamoring for Marvel/Sony to do. All fans are waiting for is the headline that reads:
BUT WAIT! LET’S NOT GET OUR HOPES UP JUST YET.
The idea of this movie being a Spider-Verse film is a concept that has pretty much been teased ever since the comic event debuted back in 2014 and has even been explored in Spider-Man media like Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and the Animated Series long before the comic run. And while the idea of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning to the franchise could make Spider-Man 3 an event that could potentially rival that of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, we cannot get ahead of ourselves with something that isn’t tangible just yet. Garfield is currently in NYC, filming the upcoming musical film; “Tick, Tick…Boom.”, and Maguire hasn’t necessarily been seen that much outside of his home in California, so, let’s just keep ourselves grounded and understand that there has been no confirmation that either Maguire or Garfield have signed on to this project.
real: Doctor Strange will appear in Spider-Man 3
The Sorceror Supreme and the Master of the Mystic Arts has been confirmed to appear in the third installation of the MCU Spider-Man franchise. His purpose? “Putting [Benedict] Cumberbatch in the mentor role that was previously occupied by Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark/Iron Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and by Samuel L. Jackson in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the latter reprising Nick Fury”, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter, who broke the news 3 weeks ago. While his upcoming sequel has to do with the Multiverse and there have been rumors that he might appear in WandaVision (2020), that’s all it is. A rumor. No one knows for sure if he will be the one who will guide Peter through this multiverse business or if he will just show up for a small cameo. Speaking of rumors…
Rumor: Charlie Cox’s Daredevil will appear in Spider-Man 3 as Spider-Man’s lawyer
Now listen, I love Charlie Cox. I loved him as Daredevil and as Matt Murdock in his Netflix series. But there have been 0 confirmations that Matt Murdock could appear in this film. People have been speculating it and including it in their theories because if Spider-Man will be judged and tried in court for murder, he would need legal representation. And of course, people would immediately think of Matt Murdock as the first pick for Spider-Man’s lawyer. But even if the lawyer thing was true, we need to understand that the rights to Daredevil do not come back to Marvel until December of this year, and Spider-Man 3 has already started production. There are still chances that he could show up. After all, Spider-Man didn’t join Captain America: Civil War (2016) until very later on in production. So we’ll have to wait and see.
Real: Jamie Foxx’s Electro will appear in Spider-Man 3
Perhaps the casting that arose the most questions was Jamie Foxx being cast once again as Max Dillon aka Electro, to reprise the role in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 sequel. He has even confirmed in a deleted Instagram post that he will not be blue in this one, as well as teasing a possible Multiverse storyline in this film, which has not been confirmed at all. It is very important to note however that this is the first time Marvel Studios has reused a villain that has already existed in a previous iteration of a Spider-Man film. They had tried to keep themselves from using the same characters in previous films by using the likes of Vulture, Mysterio, The Tinkerer, Aaron Davis, Shocker, and more in the previous 2 Spidey films, so casting Electro and let alone Foxx is something that’s really interesting to think about.
rumor: Kraven The Hunter, Venom & others can appear in Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man’s rogue gallery is something definitely worthy of being mentioned as having some of the most recognizable villains in all of comics lore. When people saw the post-credit scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) where Peter’s identity was exposed to the world and was accused of being a murderer, people assumed that Peter’s story would take a turn for our hero to go “on-the-run”. It is a very popular trope in Spider-Man comics and many people turned to the idea of Kraven the Hunter being the next villain in this film, taking on the role of a bounty hunter who would take on the hunt for Spider-Man. While the idea is certainly possible and something I myself have theorized, in the end, we need to understand that this is all entirely speculative. However, it is important to note that it is a rumor with a basis that could potentially become true. Unlike the rumor where Tom Hardy will cameo as Eddie Brock in this film. That’s just pure speculation.
real: most of the supporting cast from the previous MCU Spider-Man films will return.
The Hollywood Reporter had also mentioned in their Electro report that “most of the supporting cast from the previous movies are expected to be on the call sheet when cameras roll in Atlanta this fall.” If this film picks up right after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), chances are we going to see the likes of MJ, Ned Leeds, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, Aunt May, and Happy Hogan return as the supporting cast for this film, since all of these actors had active supporting roles in both films. And we still need answers to so many questions that the Far From Home cliffhanger left us. Will Ned be slightly skinnier in this film since Jacob Batalon has been seen working out and losing weight? How will MJ react to the news of Peter being a murderer? How will Flash react to the news of Peter Parker being Spider-Man? Will Betty Brant report it all for the Midtown High news? ARE AUNT MAY AND HAPPY DATING OR NOT? Speaking of supporting casts…
rumor: most of the supporting cast from the previous Spider-Man films can return
Now, of course, with the idea of Spider-Man 3 being a Spider-Verse film, people have run rampant with the idea of who from the supporting casts of the other Spider-Man films could potentially return for this film. Just like the Andrew and Tobey news, we all need to take it slow and understand that this is all rumored and that there have been no official confirmations that any of these actors could return.
REAL: SPIDER-MAN 3 IS SCHEDULED TO PREMIERE ON DECEMBER 17, 2021.
RUMOR: SPIDER-MAN 3 WILL PREMIERE ON DECEMBER 17, 2021.
