Sony's Rescheduled Marvel Universe Movie Could Be Spider-Man 4, Cosmic Wonder Argues

Published 3 August 2026. Words like "tonight" or "next week" refer to that date.

Sony recently reshuffled release dates for several of its Spider-Man Universe movies, and buried in that reshuffle is an untitled Sony Marvel Universe film that has now landed on July 12, 2024. That title alone is enough to get Spider-Man fans speculating, and I think this date both does and doesn't make sense as the official Spider-Man 4 release date. Here is my reasoning.

Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and the untitled movie all shifted dates

Kraven the Hunter was originally planned for January 2023, before being moved to October 6, 2023, and then pushed back again. That date happens to be the slot Madame Web was originally supposed to occupy, so with Kraven the Hunter taking it, Madame Web has been pushed back to February 16, 2024.

That domino effect is what moved the untitled Sony Marvel Universe movie from its original June date to July 12, 2024. As I put it, "this moves the untitled sony slash marvel universe movie from june to july 12th of 2024 so not a really big move here but the title makes us wonder what this movie is going to be."

Why the exact wording of the title points to a Spider-Man movie

It is hard to imagine this movie being anything other than Spider-Man because of how specifically it is labeled. Calling it a "Sony Marvel Universe" film is very different from calling it a Sony Universe film, and that distinction matters. The Marvel Universe label suggests this is a movie taking place in the MCU itself, not in Sony's separate Venom-style universe, unless Sony simply titled it loosely or poorly. Given how specific the wording is, I doubt that is the case.

That narrows things down to really only one, maybe two, possibilities. Sony could theoretically slot another movie into the MCU, but the two realistic candidates are Spider-Man 4 and Venom 3.

Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal already stated another Spider-Man film is coming

A lot of people have told me they are worried because Sony and Marvel haven't officially announced Spider-Man 4 yet, and Tom Holland has said he hasn't been offered an official contract. I understand that concern, but about a week after Spider-Man: No Way Home came out, Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal very clearly stated that they are working on the next Spider-Man film.

Kevin Feige actually said the only reason they told fans that was so people didn't have to worry about a deal falling through between Sony and Marvel again. That is a direct callback to what happened after Spider-Man: Far From Home, when there were a lot of reports that Sony was going to pull Spider-Man out of the MCU because Sony and Disney/Marvel could not agree on a deal, since Sony owns the on screen rights to Spider-Man while Marvel wanted more money for making him successful in the MCU.

It did look for a while like Spider-Man was going to be taken out of the MCU, but that got worked out, and Feige and Pascal came out right away afterward to confirm another film was coming. So as far as I'm concerned, Spider-Man 4 is confirmed. The only real question is whether this July 2024 date is the official release date for it.

Why the timing fits before Secret Wars and Marvel's phase pattern

We should assume Tom Holland's Spider-Man is going to be part of Avengers: Secret Wars and a big part of the Avengers moving forward once a team reforms, since there isn't currently an official Avengers team in the MCU. That means Marvel Studios and Sony need one more Spider-Man film before Secret Wars happens, and it can't come after Secret Wars because too much happens there, potentially even resetting the MCU.

One supporting pattern: when Marvel Studios announces its phases, Spider-Man movies are never listed. That was true for Phase Three and Phase Four, and it holds for the revealed parts of Phase Five and Phase Six too. Spider-Man isn't shown, but he is presumably in there somewhere. Given the movie needs to land before Secret Wars, this release date probably places Spider-Man 4 inside Phase Five, ahead of Phase Six developments like the Fantastic Four, the Kang Dynasty, and Secret Wars itself.

Rumors that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire are probably returning for Secret Wars make this timing make even more sense to me, because there is a lot that needs to happen in a Spider-Man 4 movie before Phase Six kicks off.

What Spider-Man 4 would still need to resolve before Secret Wars

At the end of No Way Home, the memory of Peter Parker was erased from everybody, including MJ, Ned, Doctor Strange, Happy, and maybe Wong. She-Hulk made it sound like he kind of knew who Spider-Man was, so maybe it's just Spider-Man and not Peter Parker that people remember, though I'll have to wait and see on that. Either way, Spider-Man 4 has to address and clear this memory spell, at least for people close to him and the Avengers.

I really hope they address the multiverse too, along with the other two Spider-Men, Andrew and Tobey. If they're going to talk about the spell that erased everyone's memory, it would make sense to also address the multiverse incident, which could lead into the Loki multiverse fallout and set up Kang's arrival. That would be a perfect bridge into Phase Six, the Kang Dynasty, and eventually Secret Wars, where Tobey and Andrew could return. I can't confirm any of this since it hasn't been officially announced, but it does seem likely this slot is for Spider-Man 4.

The alternative possibility: this could be Venom 3 instead

If Sony simply labeled this poorly and it isn't actually an MCU movie, the only other film I think it could be is Venom 3. That would make sense given Tom Hardy has teased multiple times that Spider-Man is going to be in Venom 3, on top of the massive post-credits tease in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and the Venom tease in the No Way Home post-credits scene.

It seems like Sony made those two post-credits scenes confusing on purpose. Tom Hardy's Venom could go up against Tom Holland's Spider-Man, or there is even a possibility we see a variant of Tom Hardy's Venom in the MCU. Don't rule out Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man returning to fight Tom Hardy's Venom in the Sony Universe either, especially given his No Way Home line, "I want to fight an alien," though technically that wouldn't be a Marvel Universe movie under the label Sony used.

So my guess is that this release date is most likely for Spider-Man 4, but Venom 3 remains a real possibility too. It is also worth noting how close this date sits to the Thunderbolts release date, though as I see it, if you have to squeeze a Spider-Man movie in somewhere, you have to squeeze it in.

What do you think this untitled Sony Marvel Universe movie actually turns out to be?