Summary

• Spider-Man’s recent movies, such as “No Way Home,” have broken box office records, earning billions worldwide.
• Concerns arise from a trend towards multiverse narratives, potentially straying from the character’s relatable roots.
• Suggestions point towards a return to smaller, street-level storytelling in “Spider-Man 4” for a more grounded and authentic experience.

As a lifelong Spider-Man fan, I’m thrilled that the wall-crawler has starred in some of his biggest movies of all time in recent years, but I’m worried that Sony and Marvel Studios may take the wrong lesson from the character’s recent success when making Spider-Man 4. Spider-Man wasn’t the first Marvel superhero to find success on the big screen, but Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man (2002) was one of several movies (also including Blade (1998) and X-Men (2000)) that ushered in the modern era of superheroes movies. Ever since, Spider-Man has been box-office gold.

Over two decades later, Spider-Man as a character is about as close to a safe bet as any to pull in serious box office earnings. Moreover, there isn’t even just one Spider-Man dominating theaters. Both Peter Parker and Miles Morales’ movies have been financial and, largely, critical successes. However, their most recent outings have something in common that I really hope doesn’t become a trend.

Spider-Man’s Last 2 Movies Have Dominated The Box Office

There has yet to be a live-action Spider-Man movie flop at the box office, but the web-slinger’s last two cinematic outings were particularly impressive. Spider-Man: No Way Home remains the character’s highest-grossing movie of all time, pulling in an impressive $1.9 billion. For context, that makes it the single-highest-earning Marvel movie ever outside of Avengers: Infinity War ($2.1b) and Endgame ($2.7b)

Before that, Miles’ Morales’ animated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, managed to rake in just shy of $700k. While this might seem a bit less impressive compared to other Spidey films, it shouldn’t. Across the Spider-Verse nearly doubled the worldwide gross of its predecessor, was the best debut of any Sony Pictures Animation project ever, and had the highest opening day earnings of any movie in 2023. This is all great for the character and the genre, but it has me wildly nervous about what comes next.

I Hope No Way Home And Across The Spider-Verse’s Success Doesn’t Send The Wrong Message

While other, older Spider-Man movies have performed well, Spidey’s latest two movies have something in common. Both do away with the idea of the “friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man” that endears the character to so many – myself included – and instead opt for bold, bombastic, larger-than-life multiversal narratives that hop realities and don’t really include the “neighborhood” at all. Don’t get me wrong – both of these movies are wonderful, and I’ve rewatched and enjoyed them both more times than I care to count. The problem isn’t with these movies, it’s in what they might signal to studio executives.

If the highest-grossing live-action and animated Spider-Man projects both deal with the multiverse, it’s not difficult to imagine that some combination of Sony, Disney, and Marvel Studios might see that as a sign that that’s what audiences want and should continue to get. I can’t and won’t speak for other audience members and fans, but this particular viewer thinks Spider-Man’s multiverse stories work best when they’re a bold change of pace from his norm and not the new status quo.

Why Spider-Man Works Better On A Smaller Scale

There’s a reason that he’s called the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Peter and Miles are far from the only street-level heroes in NYC, but Spider-Man is undoubtedly the most popular. Spidey may be more powerful than he sometimes gets credit for, but a big part of his enduring popularity is that, under the mask and in his day-to-day life, Peter is relatable. He struggles with money, relationships, work, and family in between stopping his villains.

It’s this dichotomy of immense power and grounded human stories that has helped Spider-Man endure as one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes. Peter has certainly been the star of several multiversal and cosmic stories, but they work because they contrast his usual day-to-day. When the fantastical becomes the norm, it takes away part of what makes Spider-Man unique. With No Way Home ending with a tease for a more grounded Spider-Man movie, it’d be a shame to renege.

Spider-Man 4 Already Has The Perfect Street-Level Story

Another reason I really hope Spider-Man 4 stays street-level is that the MCU has been setting up the perfect grounded story over several TV shows. Vincent D’Onofrio has been absolutely crushing it as Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, since Daredevil season 1, and his MCU re-introduction has been planting the seeds for his NYC mayoral run. It looks like the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again will see him finally take office, setting him up to start his war on NYC “vigilantes.”

This is the perfect set-up to see him finally transition to the big screen, positioning Spider-Man to take on his usual villains while also having Fisk come at him and others politically. Moreover, Spider-Man’s MCU projects have all featured an MCU hero in a supporting role, and both Daredevil and the Punisher sound perfect for such a story. Kingpin is absolutely a movie-worthy villain, and his long history with Spider-Man in Marvel Comics has hitherto gone unseen on the big screen. Eschewing it in favor of another larger-than-life multiverse story would be a disappointing missed opportunity.

With a third Spider-Verse movie, Beyond the Spider-Verse, currently in production and the MCU’s Peter Parker undoubtedly playing an important role in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, there isn’t going to be a shortage of “bigger” Spidey stories if Spider-Man 4 tones things down a bit. While Homecoming came close, Holland’s Peter Parker hasn’t really had a chance to be a neighborhood hero yet. While I totally get why financial success might indicate that audiences want bigger stories, the truth is that we just want well-written ones. Hopefully, regardless of what Spider-Man 4 ends up looking like, it’s backed by a quality script and set of characters the franchise has become known for.