We know Spider-Man 4 is in the works. Marvel and Sony confirmed as much while No Way Home was still in theaters. They’ve yet to reveal the Spider-Man 4 release date, but that’s another matter. The industry strikes certainly have not helped get us any closer to a Spider-Man 4 premiere. Still, rumors say that the sequel will hit theaters in the not-too-distant future, with Spider-Man 4 set to feature key events that will connect directly to Avengers: Secret Wars.
I’m not the biggest Spider-Man fan out there, so I don’t really care if we’re getting another standalone Spider-Man movie in the MCU. I do know we need at least one Spider-Man in the MCU in time for Secret Wars, and I’m more excited about Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) than Peter Parker (Tom Holland).
That said, there is a big Spider-Man mystery that the current state of the MCU might help answer, and I’m dying to find out. Bruce Campbell just teased that the cameos he’s had in the Sony Spider-Man movies and in the MCU’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness do not show a different character. That’s an exciting prospect that the multiverse makes possible. Mind you, some spoilers might follow.
Bruce Campbell’s Spider-Man cameos
By the current state of the MCU, I mean that we’re in the Multiverse Saga, where anything is possible. for better or worse. The fact that I’m talking about Bruce Campbell’s Spider-Man cameos is proof of that. It couldn’t have happened in the previous MCU phases or outside the MCU.
The multiverse exists because Marvel decided to make a big deal out of it to try to sort of reunite all the possible Marvel movie universes into a single place. The multiverse is the only way to bring Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and the Fox X-Men to the MCU. It’s also why Sony could inject Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield into the MCU via No Way Home.
On the same note, Sony’s growing Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is now hitched to the MCU. Even bad movies like Morbius are part of the MCU. But let’s not forget that the MCU has “gems” of its own, like Secret Invasion.
Then, there’s the amazing Spider-Verse, which tackles the multiverse on its own. And which should tie into Secret Wars, according to most leaks.
Without the multiverse, we wouldn’t discuss Bruce Campbell’s cameos in Sam Raimi’s superhero movies. Since the two are great pals, Campbell appeared in all of Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. When Marvel tapped Raimi for the Doctor Strange 2 job, rumors swirled that we’d see Campbell in the film. And we did.
What character is he playing?
It might have started all as hilarious, inconsequential Easter eggs that movie fans would just enjoy. But the multiverse changes everything. All of a sudden, Campbell’s roles hit differently. The theories that say he might be playing the same character might be true after all.
He might be there to observe that events happen in a certain way and even guide certain heroes. Spider-Man would be one of them, but not the only one.
I’m speculating here, of course. But it’s all thanks to Bruce Campbell’s recent comments about his Marvel cameos. The actor talked to ComicBook, saying that his Multiverse of Madness character isn’t just a pizza vendor or an announcer, usher, or Maître D’. Thinking that would be a “massive mistake,” according to him.
Campbell said that we’re in the multiverse, and he’s been playing the same character. “We don’t know who he really is. It has not been revealed yet. I just got off the phone with the guys at Marvel, and we’re getting close to finding out,” he teased.
The same interview mentions rumors that Campbell would have played a Mysterio version in Sony’s Spider-Man 4 movie that Sam Raimi would have directed. That movie was canceled, however. In such a scenario, the multiverse angle would not matter, however.
The actor could just be joking, and all Marvel fans would take him seriously. At least those who have seen all of the MCU projects, the SSU movies, and the Fox X-Men movies.
What does he mean when he says he’s been talking to Marvel? Well, there have been rumors recently that Marvel might tap Sam Raimi again for MCU work. Some say Raimi might return for Doctor Strange 3. Others say he might do Secret Wars.
If the director helms other MCU movies, I think Campbell would probably be there as well. And if that happens, failing to confirm his characters were actually the same person would be a hugely wasted opportunity.
We’ll have to wait for any of that to come true, however. There’s no telling when Doctor Strange 3 will hit theaters, and we’re more than three years away from Secret Wars.