Benedict Cumberbatch admitted to Empire magazine that he was at first skeptical about “Spider-Man: No Way Home” being the blockbuster to arguably save theaters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think when Kevin Feige first said, ‘We’ll know about the future of cinema, or the cinema-going experience, after this film,’ I was like, ‘OK, everyone’s drinking too much of the Kool-Aid around here,’” Cumberbatch said. The superhero film, which placed all three iterations of Spider-Man played by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, respectively, in the same film, opened to a staggering $260 million. “No Way Home” went on to become the biggest film in Sony history and topped “Avatar” to become the third biggest movie ever at the domestic box office.
“My ignorance was showed up,” Cumberbatch, who plays Doctor Strange in the MCU films, added.
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Since the pandemic success of “No Way Home,” Sony and Marvel have confirmed to be “actively beginning to develop” more installments in the Holland-led franchise.
“Amy [Pascal] and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next, which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after ‘Far From Home,’” Feige said in a New York Times interview, referencing the period in 2019 when the pact between Disney and Sony to develop more Spider-Man titles fell through. “That will not be occurring this time.”
Pascal previously promised another trilogy: “We’re thinking of this as three films, and now we’re going to go onto the next three,” the Sony producer said. “This is not the last of our MCU movies…Yes, Marvel and Sony are going to keep going together as partners.”
Holland, Garfield, and Maguire have all teased they would be willing to reunite their “brotherhood” onscreen again in subsequent films.
“In terms of moving forward with the character, yes, I am definitely open to that,” Garfield said during the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in January 2021. “Again, it would have to be something very unique, very special and serving to an audience and in service of the character. There’s something playful and unique and odd and unexpected to be done. I’m not sure what is but if we can figure it out it would be so much fun.”
As for the next Marvel film ahead, Cumberbatch’s “Doctor Strange” sequel, “In the Multiverse of Madness,” will premiere May 6 in theaters.
“Your head’s going to be spun,” Cumberbatch teased to Empire of the Sam Raimi–directed film.
Raimi, who directed the original “Spider-Man” trilogy starring Maguire, told Variety that his reunion with Marvel has been a long time coming.
“Marvel’s been a great team to work with. [They’re] super professional and have supported me every step of the way [but] one thing I know about the Marvel team is they won’t stop,” Raimi said. “They’ll keep pushing it until it’s as close to being great as it could.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
