Everything Marvel Studios has brought us so far is set to converge in the craziest, biggest cinematic event we’ve ever seen, EVER! Well, to some people at least. Avengers: Infinity War will see the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and other MCU superpowers unite against the evil will of Thanos (Josh Brolin), written by the dynamic duo who brought us Captain America films The Winter Soldier and Civil War, Mark and Antony Russo.
The Russo Brothers demonstrated their capability of dealing with many key characters in Civil War, but Infinity War will dial this to 1000. The expectation would be to see all of the MCU heroes appear, but looking at the casting list there is one significant name missing.
Filming is set to begin in Atlanta, expected to last for an entire year ahead of its May 2018 release. Naturally, an open casting call appeared on MovieCastingCall.org, drawing attention to the involvement of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel.
Looking closer at the list of actors starring in the film though, Tom Holland’s name does not appear. What could that mean? Will Tom Holland’s Spider-Man not be suiting up with the rest of the Avengers in 2018? Will he die??? Okay, that’s an overreaction.
All the names you’d expect to see on the list are there; the core Avengers (including Mark Ruffalo, showing he’ll survive Thor: Ragnarok), and new heroes are included (such as Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther) as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy. So this will involve the inevitable galactic crossover we expected from the very moment Thanos first revealed his creepy, purple smile. So… where’s Spidey?
Two plausible explanations come to mind. Firstly, we know the Marvel and Sony deal is a film-by-film agreement, Marvel President Kevin Feige himself confirmed the studios had sealed a deal for Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. We now know the latter is to be treated with a sequel, so this partnership will be continuing. But Sony might be, and evidently are, reluctant to give Spidey over to Marvel completely, for them to give him screen time among Marvel Studios’ own properties in a huge project like Infinity War.
Secondly, considering the Guardians will be showing up, we can expect Infinity War to be somewhat more galactic than Marvel’s previous movies, perhaps leaving New York’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in… well, New York. Perhaps Thor and Hulk will still be hanging around in space when Infinity War starts, which would make sense for them to run into the Guardians of the Galaxy (though we can’t say how this will happen). It’s likely for Thor to be the link between Earth and the Guardians, as Earth’s most galactic Mighty Hero, especially when Thor: The Dark World’s end credits scene featured Lady Sif meeting the Collector, teasing Guardians of the Galaxy. Captain Marvel could easily join the Avengers on an interstellar mission, but can Spidey? Spider-Man: Homecoming is all about establishing Spidey as a grounded, Earthly hero.
If the Avengers bring the fight to Thanos, then would it make sense for Spider-Man to join them, to another planet? After all, he has got homework. But if Spider-Man is to feature in another Avengers film, could it be under the circumstances that Thanos brings the fight to Earth?
There is plenty of time to speculate, production has only just started. The worry is that Tom Holland’s absence from this mighty cast list may suggest that Spider-Man will be pushed aside. Imagine that. One of Marvel’s biggest heroes, Spider-Man, a bench-warmer! If this is to be the case, the Marvel-Sony partnership may not be ideal, not if it is at the expense of Spider-Man’s participation in the grand scheme of the MCU.
All I know is that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was brilliant in Civil War, and it looks like his brilliance will continue in Spider-Man: Homecoming, so it would be a shame to see him sidelined. Let us know what you think this means below!
Source: MovieCastingCall.org