Why Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man Will Return In Doctor Strange 2

After Scott Derrickson's unfortunate but seemingly amicable departure from the director's chair of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, you could have been forgiven for wondering if Marvel Studios were going to have another directing crisis. Over the years, we've seen the studio move directors around and sideline others entirely over creative differences for the most part and it seemed Derrickson fell in the same bracket.

The concerning thing, in that respect, is that Derrickson was promising the MCU's first real horror movie and even more boundary pushing than the first film. And considering how incredible the effects work and how revelatory the expansion of the cosmic side of the MCU has been, that sounded very exciting. Add to that the fact that we were going to get a true look into the Multiverse for the first time and it felt like Derrickson would be unshackled in a similar way that James Gunn had been in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2.

But it's not to be and now we're looking at a different future, where Sam Raimi could be the man to step in and guide Strange's sequel. And that could mean something extremely cool for fans of the MCU and also of Raimi's past comic book movie work.

Because Raimi could use the Multiverse opportunities afforded by the Doctor Strange sequel to bring his own version of Spider-Man back. The Multiverse offers infinite opportunities, after all.

So far, all we know of The Multiverse Of Madness is that it will include Scarlet Witch and that the synopsis promises a continuation of the narrative of the first movie. Here's the synopsis:

"After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Dr. Stephen Strange continues his research on the Time Stone. But an old friend turned enemy seeks to destroy every sorcerer on Earth, messing with Strange's plan and also causing him to unleash an unspeakable evil."

Turning to Raimi makes a lot of sense, because not only does he have previous experience making comic book movies (and sequels), but he also has experience working with a big studio known for wanting things to be their way. If Spider-Man 3 taught us anything, it's that Sony made Raimi make a film they wanted. That should leave him in good shape to work with Marvel Studios, where he can expect the same conversations.

And what if Marvel seek to sugar the pot of their offer to Raimi by giving him the option to bring back Tobey Maguire?

We've previously heard rumours that the future of Spider-Man's participation in the MCU might lead to the appearance of MULTIPLE Spider-Man - taking a lead from Sony's Into The Spiderverse somewhat - in order to bring the MCU and Sony's live action Spider-Verse together. And while the debut of Miles Morales would make the most sense, bringing back an older Spider-Man would be an incredible way to bait fans.

When you consider the boost Far From Home had from Robert Downey Jr's appearance, bringing in Maguire would make a lot of sense in business terms. And we know from the return of JK Simmons' J Jonah Jameson that Jon Watts is far from against stunt casting for the sake of exciting fans.

This isn't an entirely fantastical suggestion either, as according to MCU Cosmic, the second Doctor Strange movie will introduce, "some known MCU characters but in very different ways." The suggestion there is that we'll see Other World versions of established characters, from universes where our familiar heroes and villains turned out very differently. We're seeing that same thing play out in the animated What If? series and it's very obvious that Marvel are keen to explore alternate realities a but more.

So while it might not be much more than a cameo, but there's definitely a chance Raimi could turn to what he knows and bring Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man back. They do have unfinished business after Raimi was forced to make Sony's version of Spider-Man 3 and then lost his chance to make Spider-Man 4. What better way to slightly right that wrong?

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