Spider-Man 4 Breaking 1 MCU Release Trend Is Secretly Good

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Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4 breaking a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie release trend for the hero is good. Holland debuted in the MCU with a scene-stealing role as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Ever since his debut, Holland's role in the MCU only got bigger, with Spider-Man providing one of the most emotional moments in the MCU when he was snapped out of existence by Thanos during the events of Avengers: Infinity War. The hero returned in Avengers: Endgame to help defeat Thanos, and Spider-Man will surely play an even greater role in the upcoming Avengers movies — The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
Holland's time in the MCU brought along another Spider-Man movie trilogy. Holland's MCU Spider-Man movies started small with the intimate Spider-Man: Homecoming before moving on to a globetrotting adventure with Spider-Man: Far From Home, and finally arriving at 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, a cinematic event to behold. The latter saw Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield's versions of Spider-Man come together to fight villains from previous Spider-Man franchises. With such a groundbreaking film as the finale for Holland's first MCU trilogy, it makes sense that his Spider-Man 4 story will take a little longer than usual to arrive in theaters.
Spider-Man 4 Will Be The Longest Gap Between MCU Spidey Movies

Holland's upcoming Spider-Man 4, which currently has no release date, will mark the longest gap between Spider-Man movies in the MCU. In the past, the franchise has maintained a two-year gap between its Spider-Man movies, with Holland appearing as the character in a couple of Avengers films between 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home. Holland then appeared one more time in the MCU with the groundbreaking Spider-Man: No Way Home, released in 2021, maintaining the MCU's trend of releasing a Spider-Man movie every two years.
The release schedule helped Holland achieve an MCU trilogy in record time. Marvel's Spider-Man franchise was the fastest to complete a trilogy in the MCU, with just a 4-year turnaround. Holland's time as the wall-crawler also marks an important correction for the franchise, as his Spider-Man getting a trilogy, and soon more, makes up for Sony canceling plans for Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man 3, leaving the previous Peter Parker actor with just two movies. Holland now gets a chance to match Maguire's numbers and surpass the actor with a Spider-Man 4 and likely another trilogy.
Spider-Man's MCU Phase 5 Absence Is A Good Thing

The MCU's Phase 5 began earlier this year with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which introduced Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, the new villain to take Thanos' spot as the MCU's big bad. Holland's Spider-Man 4 is not scheduled to release during Phase 5, which is a nice change of pace for the actor. Holland holds the record for most appearances throughout the MCU's Phase 3 alongside Captain America star Chris Evans, with both having five appearances. Holland then took a step back with only a single appearance in Phase 4, although it was in one of the biggest movies of all time.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was universally beloved, with both critics and audiences praising the movie's heartfelt elements and the coming together of the three generations of live-action Spider-Man movies. Following the $1.922 billion generational event is a tall order, which is why Marvel and Sony are being smart and giving Spider-Man 4 some distance from No Way Home before it arrives in theaters. With Marvel's Phase 5 ending in 2024, Holland's Spider-Man 4 will have to come during Phase 6, which gives Marvel time to figure out what is next for Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending left Peter in a corner, utterly alone, and the MCU needs time to handle this new situation for Holland's character properly. Spider-Man 4 will likely include other MCU characters, as all Holland-led movies have, and Charlie Cox's Daredevil has risen to be the fan-favorite for a role in the film. Sony's Venom actor Tom Hardy could also appear in Spider-Man 4, finally paying off the teases that the duo would meet.
When Will Spider-Man 4 Happen?

The MCU's Phase 5 wraps up next year and has a packed schedule, and with Spider-Man 4 not looking to go in front of cameras this year, it is all but confirmed that Holland's next adventure as the web-slinger will not be part of Phase 5. Realistically, Spider-Man 4 will release during Phase 6, likely after Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. That movie is slated for a May 2, 2025 release, and with Fantastic Four coming earlier that year in February, Spider-Man 4 will likely have to debut in the summer or winter as the franchise has done in the past.
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