Just a day ago, Marvel dropped a cryptic teaser image showing an artfully-webbed design of number four. No further details were announced, so naturally, the abrupt release sparked a slew of speculations from the community.
The most obvious conclusion drawn, naturally, was that a Spider-Man 4 is set to be in the works, supposedly transforming original trilogy director Sam Riami’s unfilmed ideas for the fourth and final Spidey movie into a comic book. Others brought up the enticing possibility of a Spider-Man and Fantastic Four crossover in both the comics and MCU, although only the former idea could have worked – the tweet, after all, made a nod to Marvel Comics and not Marvel Studios.
Suffice to say, it was a wild day for the fan base, and it seems the web of intrigue is just about to get even more confusin. One day after the teaser image made its debut, Marvel followed-up with another update, this time with a ‘3’ replacing the previous number, which does appear to hint at a countdown of sorts.
Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief CB Cebluski has dropped more details abut the upcoming project, stating that it would be an unexpected surprise, while also dispelling the earlier Spider-Man 4 adaptation and Spider-Man/Fantastic Four crossover theories.
It’s unfortunate that both the Raimi-loving webheads and comic community have had their dreams dashed. The original plan for the cancelled Spider-Man 4 film would have seen the return of Tobey Maguire as Spidey, alongside the reported appearance of Black Cat and The Vulture. Together, the character cast was to bring the franchise “back to the basics”, but the movie never did take off after Raimi dropped out in 2010.
As for the crossover, there was always a possibility for the two worlds to clash. For one, the current Fantastic Four writer Dan Slott is known for his work on The Amazing Spiderman, which saw the first team-up between the two juggernauts back in 1963. Subsequently, the web-slinging superhero joined the Fantastic Four following the death of Human Torch in 2011, so the opportunity is definitely there.
With Cebluski’s confirmation, the untapped potential of the above idea would have to be shelved…for now. The Spider-Man comics usually bring in at least one or two major events into its yearly line-up, and with the reveal of Spider-Geddon, there’s still room to explore another plot point.
One down, just three more days to go.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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