Could all three Spider-Man actors appear in a crossover?
If you watched Parks and Recreation, you’re probably familiar with Patton Oswalt’s hilarious Star Wars/Marvel filibuster. In a nutshell, Oswalt explains that Thanos could use the Reality Gem to bridge the Star Wars universe and Marvel universe.
As ridiculous as it might sound, this actually seemed almost plausible at the time, seeing how Disney had acquired the rights to both of these franchises. In the MCU, though, it’s been established that Star Wars is a fictional series with various characters referencing the Death Star and The Empire Strikes Back. So an epic crossover between these two Disney properties is likely out of the question. However, Oswalt does bring up some interesting points about the Reality Gem and Infinity Gauntlet.
If this particular Infinity Stone can be used to jump from different realities, the MCU could theoretically venture to a universe where Tobey Maguire is Spider-Man and another where Andrew Garfield is Spider-Man. Throw in Tom Holland and all three Spider-Man actors could appear in a crossover. This may be farfetched, especially seeing how Maguire and Garfield have seemingly moved on from the web-slinger. Honestly, though, it wouldn’t be too different from what we’ve already seen in the comics.
On the printed page, Spider-Man has been rebooted a couple times, tackling the character from different perspectives, just as the movies have. There are also different versions of Spider-Man spread across the Marvel Comics Multiverse. Miles Morales took Peter Parker’s place in Ultimate Marvel. Gwen Stacy was bitten by a radioactive spider in another reality and became Spider-Gwen. Speaking of which, Emma Stone could also potentially reprise her role as Gwen Stacy if the Reality Gem was used to enter a universe where Spider-Woman exists. Hey, it’d make more sense than that cloning subplot Sony was planning to do before cancelling The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
Speaking of cancelled movies, it’s a shame that both Maguire and Garfield left the Spider-Man franchise on such low notes. The Reality Gem would allow them to come back for a final curtain and properly pass on the torch to Holland. Of course the possibilities wouldn’t just be limited to Spider-Man. We could finally see several characters that have been missing in action.
What if the Infinity Gauntlet was used to cross over to the X-Men Cinematic Universe? Fox isn’t giving up the movie rights anytime soon, but if Sony would let Spider-Man out to play, maybe Deadpool could share some chimichangas with the Avengers. Then they could cross over to the animated realm and go out for shawarma with the gang from Big Hero 6. We could even bring the Fantastic Four into the fold…
Meh, on second thought, forget about the Fantastic Four, but you get the idea. The Infinity Gauntlet is bound to bring big changes to the MCU and a three-way Spider-Man crossover might be more plausible than we thought. The Ninja Turtles have met different incarnations of themselves. Wouldn’t it be amazing if Marvel did the same for Spidey?
Spider-Man Forever does have a nice ring to it after all.