Nothing gets a conversation and/or debate going faster than an alternate casting. Everyone has their own opinion about what actor should play which role, and, more importantly, nobody can ever agree with anyone else’s picks. If it’s even slightly different than what you pictured in your head, you will immediately disregard it and ridicule the person who suggested it. The aim of the FanCast is to inspire conversation, create debate, and provide ammo for the bloodthirsty nerds who can’t ever be wrong.
For those who are aware, the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) took a major cue from the controversial storyline One More Day. If you’re unfamiliar with that specific storyline, everybody who knew who Peter Parker was as a person, as well as if they knew he was also Spider-Man, all had their minds wiped against their will. This once again turned Peter Parker into your Average Joe, which is exactly who he should be. There are a lot of changes that the “Powers That Be” at Marvel chose to make with their version of Spider-Man, which is understandable considering they wanted to make him different than the two previous film incarnations. Some of those changes were good, but most of them weren’t. The only way to move Peter Parker’s journey forward would be to implement these changes in the best way possible when it comes to future movies of the Spider-Man franchise within the ever-changing world of the MCU.
Here is who I would FanCast in the MCU’s next installment of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: Can’t Go Home Again
The comic book that I grew up loving was Ultimate Spider-Man (2000-2009), written by Brian Michael Bendis with art from Mark Bagley. The two were both apprehensive about the success of the title before its initial launch but the title very quickly became a fan favorite and the two stayed on the title for 110 (111-ish) issues, becoming the first creative team who put out as many issues, finally surpassing Stan Lee and Jack Kirby‘s 110-issue run on Fantastic Four back in the 1960s. Ultimate Spider-Man initially took many cues from Stan Lee and Steve Ditko‘s original run on Amazing Spider-Man but would also greatly expand on the many iconic storylines as well as eventually branching off and creating a continuity all its own.
There are some storylines that the MCU chose to omit from Peter’s introduction, which was probably a good decision on their part. Considering how iconic Peter Parker’s origin is and how he turned into Spider-Man via being bitten by a radioactive spider, everybody knows this is how he got his powers and we didn’t need to see it again. However, the fact that it had never been expanded on in the MCU leaves it open for an explanation as to where exactly this “radioactive spider” came from. Stan Lee didn’t elaborate too much on this part of Peter’s origin in Amazing Fantasy #15 (1961) and that’s where the plot points explored in Ultimate Spider-Man come into play.
Featured Characters:
The Hero
Spider-Man
Tom Holland | Peter Parker
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Tom Holland would be cast as Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man. This was a given, of course, but it was also expected. As hesitant as I am to say that he is the definitive version of the character, he has most definitely come the closest to accurately portraying both Peter Parker and Spider-Man when it comes to live-action adaptions. That said; even though I’m not particularly in love with any of his solo films, that doesn’t mean that I would be opposed to seeing him return in the MCU, whether that be with more solo movies or once again teaming up with the rest of the of surviving characters in future phases of the MCU.
Storyline
Considering that the MCU is meant to be taking place in “real time”, that means that there will be many years that have since passed since we’ve last seen him. Does that mean he has now become a full-fledged adult? Not exactly, as I would still like to see him being portrayed as a young adult but not a teenager. What I would specifically like to see is Peter finally attend University. He knows that he’s a genius and it would be a shame for him to waste his potential.
I also like to believe that he hasn’t given up being Spider-Man for good after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) but rather learning from his prior mistakes and being able to keep his secret identity a little more of a secret this time around. As mentioned, the one storyline that was never touched upon in the MCU is Peter’s origin and how he was able to obtain his powers. That’s what I would like to see explored this time around. Yes, we all know that he was bitten by a radioactive spider — but where did it come from and how and why was it radioactive in the first place? These are questions that Ultimate Spider-Man provided answers for which I would like to use as plot points for an MCU Spider-Man 4.
The Villain
Green Goblin
Crispin Glover | Norman Osborn
When casting a new Norman Osborn, I didn’t want to go the too-cliche route whose descent into madness wouldn’t be completely obvious but also wouldn’t be completely out of the ordinary either. I wanted somebody who could portray both the characteristics of being charming and charismatic as well as threatening and menacing at the same time as well as when it would be appropriate for him to do so. Crispin Glover is best known for his role in Back to the Future (1985) and didn’t have much of a career after that, but those who saw Charlie’s Angels (2000) will know that he’s very much capable of pulling off these two types of personalities when he so chooses to do so.
Storyline
We’re aware that Norman Osborn is a businessman, and what I want this version of Norman Osborn to be is to have been a rival of Howard Stark (John Slattery) within the tech industry before Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) took over. However, because of the unethical ways in which he chose to go about his experiments, he was sent to prison for many years (which is the perfect excuse as to why he was never heard of until now). Let’s say Norman Osborn wasn’t exactly too well known before his incarceration and Oscorp wasn’t leading the industry, but rather a start-up company that would ultimately end up failing which is why this Norman would be motivated by destroying Stark Tech.
Tony Stark is the heart of the MCU and bringing it back to his influence is the only logical choice when it comes to connecting this movie to that of the very beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, doing this would be a little obvious but it would also play into the themes of legacy from the previous Spider-Man movies.
Upon his release, Norman would be well aware of The Avengers and their influence on the world and chose to create a superhero all his own. Much like in Spider-Man (2002), he would choose to experiment on himself but instead of using a green suit, he would legitimately turn into a giant grotesque monster which would be more accurate to that which was shown in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man, making him much more of a threat to that of Tom Holland’s puny Spider-Man. After his capture, he would get set to prison again which would see him vow revenge against Spider-Man and leave it open-ended for his inevitable return in future installments of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies.
The Love Interest
Sabrina Carpenter | Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy has always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to her comic book counterpart. It’s a shame that she she has become more influential in death than when she was alive. When Stan Lee created her, there wasn’t much to the character besides being the popular girl who ultimately ended up with Peter Parker. She would also get introduced in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man but this incarnation would be more rebellious. That is not the version of Gwen Stacy that I want to see in this film. I would much prefer her original 616 counterpart but perhaps tweaked just a slight bit to make it so she doesn’t come off so vapid and uninteresting. I wanted to cast Sabrina Carpenter as she gives off the vibe of somebody who would be able to enforce the innocence of the girl next door as well as pull off the hippie vibe that is so akin to that of the 1960s version.
Much like Gwen Stacy, Carpenter fits the vibe of being somebody who seems like she should stand out from the crowd but for some reason fails to do just that. She’s been around for years but for some reason, she tends to live in the shadows of other more successful young women. She doesn’t get cast in any big motion pictures and her music is never in rotation on the radio. This is exactly the type of girl that I see Peter Parker falling for instead of the brooding, miserable emo girl who sits in the back of the class. Also, her gorgeous flowing blonde hair doesn’t hurt either.
The New Best Friend
Skyler Gisondo | Harry Osborn
Of course, it’s impossible to have one Osborn without the other. They go too much hand-in-hand for one to be used without being influenced by the other. The disappointed father and the son trying to live up to his father’s expectations is a cliche one but it works too well with Norman and Harry not to be used again. However, there are times when this doesn’t work either, which is why Harry was missing from the Spider-Man (2018) video game. After Norman’s death, Harry takes it upon himself to walk in his father’s footsteps and become the next Green Goblin. It doesn’t work when Norman hasn’t become the Green Goblin yet but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen in future installments like we saw in Spider-Man 3 (2007). I just wanted somebody who wasn’t all that established as an actor who could be able to convey the innocence of wanting to make his father proud. Skyler Gisondo is who I landed on.
Conclusion
Peter’s storyline in the MCU has taken a lot from the Marvel Comics 616 Universe proper and to say that there had been a lot of mixing and matching when it came to adapting these storylines into live-action films would be an understatement. and as much as I like to claim to be a Spider-Man fan, I haven’t read Spider-Man from the beginning. So, what exactly would this installment do differently than what we’ve already seen? Well, probably nothing when it comes to the final outcome but also maybe something a little extra pertaining to the execution.
The storyline “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” is not only one of the best Spider-Man storylines of all time, but one of the most influential comic book storylines ever written. Of course, that’s not what writer Gerry Conway intended when he chose to kill off Gwen Stacy all those years ago, he just didn’t like the character and preferred to put Peter and MJ in a relationship instead. However, what ultimately ended up happening in this particular storyline not only changed the course of what was to come in the Spider-Man comic books themselves but with the comic book industry as a whole as “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” is considered to be responsible for ushering in the end of The Silver Age of Comics, which is a pretty big deal.
That said, I understand that there is a lot that has been proposed in this FanCast that audiences have already seen in previous Spider-Man films, and for good reason. There are traces of “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” in both Sam Rami’s Spider-Man (2002-2007) trilogy as well as Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man (2012-2014) duology. I’m probably leaning a little too much into the source material instead of trying to make this movie stand out on its own, but this is more of a dream movie than anything that I would actually expect to see the light of day.
Who Would You FanCast in the MCU’s Next Installment of Spider-Man?