The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s big missed opportunity will now come true in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to make a devastating moment happen. Spider-Man’s MCU timeline includes several exciting moments and crossovers. However, none of them come close to what it felt like to see Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men together.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was the perfect event movie, allowing fans to see what had happened to Garfield’s Peter Parker and Maguire’s Spidey years after we last saw them in their respective Spider-Man movie franchises. Since The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was cancelled, fans never got to spend a whole movie with Garfield’s Spider-Man after Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy died.
Gwen’s death was inevitably brought up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where it was revealed that Garfield’s Spider-Man had grown bitter for a time due to how he could not save her. Thankfully, he saved Zendaya’s MJ from suffering a similar fate. Now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s story can parallel Gwen’s death in a new way that is equally as heartfelt.
Aunt May’s Death Completely Changes Peter Parker’s Life
While Garfield’s Spider-Man saved the life of Zendaya’s MJ, Spider-Man: No Way Home did include a major death. It was one that changes the MCU Spider-Man movies going forward in a huge way, as Holland’s Spider-Man lost his Aunt May. If there was anyone to kill her, it surely was Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, the best live-action Spider-Man villain to date.
The MCU Spider-Man and Dafoe’s Green Goblin had a dynamic that grew from friendly into a rivalry by the end of No Way Home. Sadly, Peter will always know that he was present when Aunt May was killed, and he could not do a thing to stop it. That rage nearly consumed the Marvel hero, who considered killing the Green Goblin.
Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home has come and gone, Aunt May is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, and Peter Parker is all alone in the MCU. Doctor Strange’s spell makes it so that none of his friends and loved ones remember who Peter is. Without any emotional or financial support, Peter has now moved into a small apartment by himself and has to start over.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 Could Have Built On Gwen Stacy’s Death
The MCU Aunt May’s death is the latest in a series of major deaths that have happened in the live-action Spider-Man movies. While her demise was heartbreaking, no Spider-Man movie death is sadder than that of Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Gwen had been the female lead of both Spider-Man movies she appeared in. Her death hit harder.
After she dies, fans could see a little of how Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man decided to mourn her. In the sequence that showed how Spider-Man had been absent for a long time as the seasons pᴀssed while Peter stood by Gwen’s grave, it was clear that Garfield’s Marvel hero had been broken. He let go of everything due to her death.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s cancellation cut short the potential of that plot device. Given how Stone’s Gwen had died, her absence would have been all over the threequel. Having Peter continue to visit her grave as a way to talk to her and cope with her pᴀssing could have continued that heartbreaking moment from the second movie.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is Confirmed To Do What TASM 3 Never Could
While there is no Gwen Stacy in the MCU — yet — and no signs that Emma Stone will return to the role anytime soon, Marvel Studios’ next Spider-Man movie is confirmed to use one of the biggest missed opportunities of Andrew Garfield’s cancelled The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man: Brand New Day set pH๏τos show Tom Holland’s Spider-Man visiting Aunt May’s grave.
We already saw that happen at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which included a meeting between Peter and Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan, who, like the rest of the world, had forgotten who Holland’s Marvel character was due to Doctor Strange’s spell. With that move, Marvel copied what worked for Garfield’s Peter after Gwen’s death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
However, since The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was cancelled, fans never got the chance to see Peter return to her grave, which could have become a recurring fixture of the franchise. Now, the MCU can do so with Aunt May’s grave, showing how Tom Holland’s Spider-Man copes with her death by continuing to visit her, still making his aunt part of his life.
How The Next MCU Spider-Man Movie Could Bring Back Aunt May
Much like how there were rumors about Gwen Stacy coming back to life in the scrapped The Amazing Spider-Man 3, the MCU can bring back Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May in Spider-Man: Brand New Day or a future Marvel movie. In the comics, Peter made a deal with Mephisto to save his aunt’s life. Recently, Sacha Baron Cohen played Mephisto in Ironheart.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s тιтle connects with the Marvel Comics storyline that takes place right after Mephisto’s deal with Peter. Mephisto has already made a deal with an MCU hero, Ironheart, so the same could happen with Spider-Man to have Aunt May come back to life. Whether that plays out in Spider-Man: Brand New Day remains to be seen.