A fourth installment in the highly successful Spider-Man franchise starring Tom Holland in the titular role has long been in development. However, the project has gained steam in recent weeks as reports have revealed director Destin Daniel Cretton is expected to take the helm for the much anticipated next chapter in Peter Parker / Spider-Man’s life.
The Holland-led movies followed a convention with their titles as the three installments incorporated “Home” in their subtitles. Thus, the title offered hints about the film’s narrative and major plot points, making the convention a tad predictable by the fourth installment. As a result, the upcoming movie must pull a page from Agatha All Along‘s playbook for its title, and here is why.
Spider-Man 4 Needs to Follow Agatha All Along‘s Title Strategy
The Spider-Man movies starring Tom Holland commenced with Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017. It’s been almost three years since Holland’s last big screen outing as the web crawler with 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the long-anticipated fourth installment is moving closer to production with Destin Daniel Cretton reportedly in talks to direct.
After the third installment essentially reset Peter Parker’s arc in the MCU, the fourth film has every chance to drop the “Home” from its subtitles. The title of the upcoming installment could instead follow in the footsteps of Agatha All Along, which was developed under various titles.
The spin-off to WandaVision was first announced with the tentative title Agatha: House of Harkness. However, by July 2022, the title had been changed to Agatha: Coven of Chaos. It was once again retitled in September 2023, as Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. The final title was revealed in May 2024 and was a reference to the titular character’s song from the parent series.
The ever-changing titles of the series kept viewers guessing about its plot and generated plenty of hype despite the spin-off having little buzz around it when it was first announced. The forthcoming Spider-Man movie could follow this pattern to not only tease the viewers about the next chapter but also hide potential spoilers before the film hits theaters.
Spider-Man 4 Might Dive Into the Multiverse Once Again
The third installment in the franchise tapped into the multiverse to include other incarnations of the web crawler, leading to a $1.927 billion box office collection. As a result, there have been rumors circulating that the fourth entry will dive back into the multiverse.
Some sources have also claimed that the next installment is expected to feature the symbiotes with Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire is expected to return. Moreover, Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom is also speculated to appear in the movie.
Meanwhile, many fans have expressed a desire for the fourth installment to steer away from the multiverse and follow a grounded, street-level story given the ending of No Way Home. Therefore, it is practically impossible to balance the fan expectations with the overall direction the MCU is headed into, i.e., the Multiversal Saga’s conclusion.
Ultimately, the best way to manage fan expectations could be to use a revolving door of titles. These titles could not only serve as misdirects but could also foreshadow Spider-Man’s larger role in the conflict over the Multiverse’s fate. As a result, the fourth film needs to surprise the audience with a crazy marketing strategy that mystifies the film’s title.
The first two MCU Spider-Man movies are streaming on Disney+.
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