Even though there’s a metric buttload of characters populating the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I always looked at the major story arc belonging to Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. He’s clearly got the furthest to go and has the most traditional Hero’s Journey across his own films and the Avengers flicks. But it looks like a newly minted MCU character will be getting a very definite story arc across the franchise’s films, and he is famous for doing whatever a spider can. In an interview with The Toronto Sun, Kevin Feige explained that Peter Parker’s MCU story will span five movies.
Spider-Man–who debuted as a supporting character in the already character-packed Captain America: Civil War–will not only be the lead of the supremely enjoyable Spider-Man: Homecoming (check out my review) and his solo sequel, but will essentially be the audience surrogate for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled Avengers 4.
“We are looking at a five-movie storyline — Civil War, Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, untitled Avengers, Homecoming 2 — or whatever we end up calling it — as an amazing five-story journey for Peter Parker.”
It makes sense, really; Spider-Man, despite having legitimate superpowers and a neato, Tony Stark-designed suit, is still a normal human teenage and will be the one most greatly affected and out of his depth in a fight against the forces of Thanos. I mean, the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor and Doctor Strange are pretty well suited to stuff like that, but Spidey just fights a weird old guy in a robotic bird suit.
Feige continued:
“In the way that the events of Civil War directly inform the opening of Homecoming and his state of mind as he goes back to high school, so too will the events of the next two Avengers movies as he continues with high school. This original 22-movie arc ends with the untitled Avengers in May of 2019 and then two months later it will be Peter and Spider-Man that usher us into the aftermath and how things proceed from there.”
We’ve already talked about the likelihood of various heroes in the MCU dying during the two Infinity War movies, and it seems pretty likely that either Cap or Iron Man or both will die, thus creating a void of heroic leadership, and maybe Peter Parker is the (young) man to do it, and deal with trying to save the world while still going to high school.
Feige didn’t mention anything past that film, but Peter Parker’s involvement in the franchise continuity seems way too big for him to disappear. We’re guessing a re-upping of Sony and Marvel’s deal will be in the future.
What do you think will happen in Spidey’s MCU future? Let us know in the comments below!
Image: Sony/Marvel
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
