Spider-Man 4 swings into action with Shang-Chi director in talks to take helm
Spider-Man 4 is definitely happening and the production is in talks with Destin Daniel Cretton to direct it.
Cretton is best known for helming another superhero project, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, so he’s well-versed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He had also been set to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and co-created the upcoming Wonder Man miniseries.
Tom Holland is expected to return in his fourth outing as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. According to The Hollywood Reporter, filming could start early next year.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.As a Sony and Marvel Studios collaboration, the film will be produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal.
The screenplay is being written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers - the two have worked on all three previous Holland movies, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man: No Way Home remains the most commercially successful superhero movie this decade, having clocked a $US1.9 billion global box office.
That film brought back two previous Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire who had starred in three Sam Raimi films and Andrew Garfield who made two with Marc Webb, in a multiverse-spanning epic.
At the end of that film, (three-year-old spoiler alert) Holland’s Peter Parker asked Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to erase him from everyone’s memories in an effort to save the world.
It was a story beat that could’ve worked as the closing of a chapter while leaving the door open for more stories.
For a while, it seemed as if Holland was ready to hang up his Spider-Man threads. In addition to the three Spider-Man movies, he’d also played the character an additional three times in MCU movies Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
No Way Home was the final movie in Holland’s original contract.
He told GQ in 2021, “Maybe it is time for me to move on. Maybe that’s what’s best for Spider-Man is that they do a Miles Morales film. I have to take Peter Parker into account as well because he is an important part of my life.
“If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong.”
Tom Holland is currently 28 years old.
Not long after that interview, Pascal and Feige flagged that they had started developing further Spider-Man movies with Holland.
Jon Watts, the director of the other three Spider-Man movies, had initially been expected to direct the fourth, even though he had backed out of the Fantastic Four movie to take a break from superhero blockbusters.
Late last year, Holland said during a press conference that the creative team was still exploring ideas that could do justice to a fourth Spider-Man movie, but that he would be on board if they did.
He said, “I would be a fool not to put the suit back on again because I owe everything to Spider-Man. I love the character and the people I get to work with. So, I would love to tell another story, but I’ll only tell it if we can find the right one.”
Cretton also directed Just Mercy, The Glass Castle, I Am Not a Hipster and the 2013 movie Short Term 12.
The latter film is notable for being Cretton’s breakout and also for the ensemble of then-up-and-coming actors who would go on to have big careers, including Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, LaKeith Stanfield, Rami Malek and Stephanie Beatriz.
