The Batman Co-Writer Hasn’t Got a ‘No’ Yet on Spider-Man 4 Film Where Tobey Maguire Juggles Being a Husband and a Father

Mattson Tomlin, co-writer of Matt Reeves’ The Batman movies, has said he hasn’t received a “no” yet on his attempts to write a Spider-Man 4 film where Tobey Maguire is juggling being a husband and a father.

Earlier this year, Tomlin expressed interest in writing a Spider-Man 4 with Spider-Man as a father and husband to Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), with Maguire reprising his role as the original Spider-Man from the much-loved Sam Raimi trilogy.

Now, with his script for The Batman 2 turned in, Tomlin responded to a fan who asked for an update on his Spider-Man 4.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” he said. “There won’t be anything to say about that for a long time (if ever!) because it involves a lot of people and politics and things going right that have nothing to do with me, but I haven’t gotten a ‘no’ yet!”

Could such a film actually happen? Spider-Man is one of the biggest characters in the MCU, and current Spider-Man Tom Holland has found huge success playing the character in the recent films. Holland is currently filming for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is set for release next year.

But we know Maguire’s Spider-Man has a place in the MCU after his cameo in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which made nearly $2 billion at the global box office. After the failure of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, perhaps the company will look to the past as it seeks inspiration for future projects.

And there’s no real reason two separate Spider-Man films with two different actors could coexist. Indeed, that’s exactly the situation the DC Universe faces, with Robert Pattinson playing Batman in Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga, and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn on the hunt for an actor to play Batman in his The Brave and the Bold movie. With Spider-Man, though, there’s potential for the two to crossover as part of ongoing multiverse shenanigans. It’s hard to see Matt Reeves and James Gunn’s takes on Batman doing that.

Whatever the “politics,” it sounds like it will be some time before we hear more on whether Tomlin is successful. He later tweeted: “If that ever happens, it’s definitely not going to be this year! Hollywood is sloooooooooooow!”

In the shorter term, Tomlin is working on the John Wick Caine spinoff, adaptations of Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR comic-book series, and of course The Batman 2.

Photo by Chris Polk/FilmMagic.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.