As if the return of Jamie Foxx’s Electro for Tom Holland’s third webslinger adventure wasn’t already exciting, Benedict Cumberbatch has joined the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man threequel as Doctor Strange, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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With Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark resting in peace and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury off on a vacation in space with the Skrulls, Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will be filling in as the adult mentor for Holland’s Peter Parker in the film, while also possibly establishing the connection between Foxx’s Electro and Holland’s Spider-Man, should it be the same iteration of the villain from the Andrew Garfield-led Amazing Spider-Man film.
While most of the original series cast are set to return for the threequel, Foxx’s casting further blurs the lines across Sony’s three webslinging franchises, with the previous installment bringing back J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi’s trilogy and the studio’s Sony Universe of Marvel Characters led by Venom expected to crossover into the Marvel Cinematic Universe series soon.
Foxx previously portrayed the role in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 helmed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield in the titular role, but after it underperformed at the box office with $708.9 million worldwide on its estimated $200 million budget and received mixed reviews from critics and fans, Sony cancelled future plans including a third Garfield-led film and Sinister Six and Venom spin-offs.
Originally scheduled for a July 16, 2021 release, the film was first pushed back to November 5 and will now bow on December 17. The untitled third installment’s previous release date was recently given to Uncharted, with Holland revealing in an Instagram video that production on the webslinging title should begin around February 2021 after the conclusion of the filming for Nathan Drake’s long-awaited big-screen debut.
Tom Holland will return for the film as the titular wall-crawler, and it remains to be seen what villains he’ll go up against in the trilogy caper. Given the ending of Far From Home however, any number of his rogues gallery are likely eager for a fight. The third installment to the MCU’s Spider-Man films will also feature the return of Zendaya (Euphoria, Dune) as MJ. Holland’s Spider-Man is also set to appear in another Marvel Studios film per the new agreement.
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Sony’s upcoming Spidey slate includes the Venom sequel, starring Tom Hardy and directed by Andy Serkis, as well as Jared Leto’s in-the-can Morbius, a Kraven the Hunter film, and a spinoff featuring Silver Sable and Black Cat. Should these films interact with the MCU and Tom Holland, it remains to be seen, but the door seems open.
