Whenever Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men return in the MCU, their next movie appearance could fill in a surprising void established by their Spider-Man: No Way Home backstory. After Spider-Man: No Way Home’s ending sent Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men back to their respective universes, it seems like Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is truly alone on Earth-616. However, both multiversal Spider-Men are likely to return sooner rather than later, as the Multiverse Saga is heading to an end in Phase 6, and the only way they could reunite with the MCU’s Prime Spider-Man is through multiversal means.
At this point, little is known about the MCU’s upcoming Spider-Man 4, but considering how the Phase 6 movie could be the last chance for Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men to return, it could offer a blend of street-level conflict for Holland’s Spider-Man and some multiversal spectacle that ties directly into the Multiverse Saga’s overarching story. Whatever Spider-Man 4 looks like, it’s bound to be different from all three previous MCU Spider-Man movies. Therefore, Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men could come back with some updates from their own timelines.
Maguire and Garfield’s lack of Spider-Man supervillain experience in No Way Home was disappointing. Spider-Man: No Way Home suggested that Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men haven’t fought any new supervillains. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man didn’t mention his own universe’s Curt Connors, who became the Lizard, and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man didn’t mention his own version of Harry Osborn, which implies that Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 marked the last time they faced any big-name Marvel villain.
The multiversal Spider-Men’s new supervillain battles may happen after No Way Home. Although neither of the alternate-universe Spider-Men appear to have fought any major Marvel villain since their last on-screen movie appearance, their first multiversal adventure alongside Tom Holland’s Spidey may have inspired them to take on bigger battles. Whenever they return in the MCU, both Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men could already have faced their own versions of famous Spider-Man villains. Shocker, Stilt-Man, Alistair Smythe, and Black Cat are only some of the previously referenced enemies they could face in their respective universes.
The MCU’s multiversal Spider-Men have the perfect excuse to fight big-name Marvel supervillains off-screen. The reason why Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Men didn’t mention any new villain in Spider-Man: No Way Home may be that Sony didn’t want to namedrop any character that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe could eventually use. This is the same reason why Tom Holland’s Spider-Man hasn’t been able to fight an MCU variant of Kraven the Hunter, Morbius, or Venom. Now that Sony has put Sony’s Spider-Man Universe on indefinite pause, many Spider-Man friends and foes may have become available – both for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the MCU and for the alternate-universe Spider-Men off-screen.
Once Garfield and Maguire’s Spider-Men return, they could reveal to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker that they have faced their own version of villains like Kraven, Carnage, Morbius, Chameleon, the Lizard, and other classic Spider-Man enemies since the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man could understand Holland’s Peter Parker a little better after fighting John Malkovich’s Vulture and Bruce Campbell’s Mysterio off-screen, and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man could fulfill his dream of fighting an alien by meeting his timeline’s own Venom.