Spider-Man: Brand New Day is breaking box office records left and right, and the world is in the grip of Spidey-Mania. This almost guarantees another Spidey installment starring Tom Holland and set in the MCU. And like the previous Marvel Studios-produced Spider-Man films, contractually Sony must include one Marvel Studios hero, quite possibly two. Given those rules, here are the Marvel Comics heroes we really hope share the screen with Peter Parker in future installments.
Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
One of the longest-running bromances in Marvel Comics is nerdy dork Peter Parker and hotshot ladies’ man Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch. These two have been giving each other crap (in a loving way) for six decades, and despite all the insults they hurl at each other, they are truly the best of buds. Currently in the MCU, Johnny (Joseph Quinn) lives in another reality, Earth-828. But we have a feeling once Avengers: Secret Wars is over, they’ll be living on the same Earth. Of course, we’d like to see the full Fantastic Four meet Spidey, just as they did in Amazing Spider-Man #1. But for us, it’s really all about Peter and Johnny sitting on rooftop, discussing their rotten romantic luck together.
Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Yeah, yeah, we know. Matt Murdock already appeared in cameo form in No Way Home. But that Charlie Cox appearance was just a tease. We’re dying to see Marvel’s two biggest street-level heroes have a real adventure together on the big screen. We were so sure that Brand New Day was hiding a Daredevil cameo. Simply because we just had a hard time imagining Spidey fighting the Hand without ol’ horn head. But he did. So we still need to see these two take on Kingpin, who began his comics existence as a Spidey villain. Tom Holland can’t finish out his MCU trilogy without fighting alongside the Man Without Fear. At least, we certainly hope not.
Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman
Here’s a major Marvel hero that Sony and Marvel share the rights to, but shockingly has yet to appear in live-action. We’re talking about Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman. Unlike later heroes with that name, Jessica’s arachnid powers are not an exact mimic of Peter Parker’s, and her origins are wildly different. She’s a former SHIELD agent, ally of Nick Fury, and an Avenger. We know a Spider-Woman movie was in development for years, but in the wake of both Madame Web and Supergirl flopping, we doubt the studios would be brave enough to give Jess her own film in this climate. So please, find space for her in one of the two upcoming Spider-Man sequels. It’s long past time she got her due.
Bobby Drake/Iceman
The only iteration of the mutant hero Iceman we’ve had on screen is Shawn Ashmore in the Fox X-Men films. And so far, there are no hints that Bobby Drake will appear in the upcoming X-Men reboot. So why not introduce him in a Spidey movie? Peter Parker has a long friendship with Bobby in other media, mostly in animated form, like the ‘80s cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. In a Spider-Man movie, he can be a new “amazing friend” for Peter, who is finally reconnecting with other people again. Also, it would be great to finally have another young out gay hero in the MCU, besides Wiccan. It’s long overdue.
Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel
When Ms. Marvel was created back in 2014, the intent was for her to be the Spider-Man for a new generation. In essence, a teen hero juggling super-heroism with family and romantic drama. And both the comic book and MCU version, played by Iman Vellani, fully succeeded at that archetype. Sadly, we haven’t seen Iman Vellani as Jersey City’s Kamala Khan since The Marvels. And since there’s likely not ever going to be a follow-up to that film, we’d love to see her show up in a Spidey sequel. Peter Parker would be a great mentor figure, especially since he’s one of the few people who have lived through what she’s been through as a teenager. Time for Peter to take on the fatherly/big brother role for a change.
Luke Cage
Much like Daredevil, Luke Cage is another iconic Marvel street-level hero who has a long-time friendship with Spider-Man in the comics. Both heroes became close when they served together on the New Avengers, but go back even before that. Cage’s wife, Jessica Jones, even went to high school with Peter Parker. However, for the MCU, that timeline doesn’t add up. Mike Colter is already returning as the bulletproof hero of Harlem in the next season of Daredevil: Born Again. But after that, we hope he appears in a future Spider-Man installment. We feel Luke would get kind of irritated by Peter, but in a way that he’d also find endearing.
There are plenty of other heroes from the MCU we’d love for Spider-Man to team up with, like Ant-Man, and even Deadpool. But these we mentioned we see as essential team-ups. In the meantime, you can watch Spidey together with the Punisher, the Hulk, and Black Widow in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, now in theaters.