(SPOT.ph) Amidst Marvel's D23 Expo announcements of a new anti-hero team, a certain werewolf that comes out at night, and a not-so-secret invasion, fans noticed one Marvel icon was clearly missing from the slate of upcoming titles: Ned Leed's (Jacob Batalon) magical lola. Kidding, of course we're talking about Tom Holland's ol' friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting any and all news relating to a fourth Spider-Man movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially after No Way Home's mind-ripping cliffhanger left all audiences heartbroken. Yet, the cast have remained tight-lipped about the future of the Web Head, with the trilogy's director Jon Watts moving onto Star Wars projects and the studio itself focusing on other heroes to build out the universe.
Being one of the trilogy's lead cast members, Batalon himself recently spoke about the possibilities of seeing a Spider-Man 4 in the future, and his answer comes as a bit of a shocker (no pun intended).
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Here's what Jacob Batalon had to say about returning in Spider-Man 4:
While promoting his new TV series Reginald the Vampire, Batalon talked to Collider about his future with the Spider-Man film series, particularly about reuniting with his co-stars Holland and Zendaya. He said:
"If it's the right place, at the right time, with the right group of people that we've been with, I would say, 'why not?' But other than that, whatever happens, happens. Really, those decisions are up to the big bosses, the people who sign the checks. We're open to the idea, but we're not hoping for it."
He added, "I feel like we're all really moving in ways where we're not really hoping for it to happen. Not that it's bad, I just feel like we're not really anticipating another movie. I just feel like we're all doing our own thing. But again, whatever happens, happens."
It's interesting that Batalon used the collective "we," as he's seemingly speaking for Holland and Zendaya as well in regards to the general mood heading into a fourth film. We do know that Holland has been unsure about reprising the role, as he previously revealed to GQ in 2021 that he didn't want to still be playing Spider-Man when he turned 30 years old (that's in less than four years now, by the way).
Batalon also talked about how he felt that No Way Home already served as a fitting finale to his time in the Spider-Man world, saying:
"I would say that [No Way Home's ending] is such a poignant ending to our movies. It really puts an exclamation on the continuance of Spider-Man, but maybe not with us, and I think that's a great thing. We may not necessarily be a part of it, in the end, but it was a beautiful ride anyway."
Spoken with true grace and clarity. However, we would grieve the loss of more potential Ned moments on film—and, not to mention, more random Bubble Gang appearances from Batalon. For now, we guess we'll just have to settle for She-Hulk's date being our prime Filipino representation in the MCU.
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