Unexpected MCU villain will appear in Spider-Man 4, reports say

Spider-Man 4 rumors have been going wild for the past few months. From initially claiming the movie will be a street-level adventure to now stating it will be a multiversal crossover. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield seem likely to appear in it, and Knull could take the spotlight and be the main antagonist. Furthermore, the long-awaited confrontation between Tom Holland's Peter Parker and Tom Hardy's Venom may finally take place. But as if all of that wasn't enough to get us excited, it appears an unexpected Marvel Cinematic Universe villain could also show up to add a bit of chaos into the mix - especially considering the unintentional connection it shares with the wall-crawler.

Doctor Doom will reportedly have a role in Spider-Man 4

According to scooper MyTimeToShineHello, Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom will have a role in Spider-Man 4. It is unlikely to be that of the main villain (since Knull may take that honor), so perhaps his appearance could play more like a cameo. After all, time's running out for Marvel to build the villain throughout different projects a la Thanos before he takes the spotlight in Avengers: Doomsday.

Originally, Kang the Conqueror was meant to be the big bad of the MCU's multiverse saga. However, there was a shift in plans after the Jonathan Major allegations. What looked like a bright future for the supervillain is now nothing but uncertainty. We have no clue if future projects will pretend like he never existed, or if there's going to be some sort of closure to his story. The only certainty is Victor Von Doom will arrive to take his place.

Fans have been eager to know how Tom Holland's Peter Parker will react to watching a supervillain share the face of his former mentor and friend. While many suspected that moment wouldn't arrive until Avengers: Doomsday, it seems it will come a bit earlier. Spider-Man 4 has been rumored to be a multiversal movie for quite some time now - but given that it is supposed to feature a symbiote storyline, it's unclear where Doctor Doom would fall into place. Could it simply be on a post-credits scene? Or will he have a more complex role to play?

In the Venom (2018) storyline, Reed Richards from the Ultimate Universe (better known as The Maker) attempts to steal symbiote codices to return to his original dimension. In order to achieve that, he gets close to Eddie Brock and his son Dylan. At one point, he is even overtaken by the Life Foundations symbiotes to create a new version of Hybrid. But as interesting as his role might be, it's unlikely we'll watch an adaptation of it on the big screen given that the MCU currently lacks a Reed Richards of its own. Granted, Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released before Spider-Man 4, but even then it would feel too early to introduce a character as big as The Maker. So what if Doctor Doom is the one to take his place?

Victor Von Doom could be the one to learn about the symbiote hive-mind, which is shared across the multiverse. He could also come to realize that codices are key to multiversal travel which could come in handy when attempting to create Battleworld. It may seem like too much of a stretch but hey, we've seen stranger things happen before. Then again, the most likely scenario still seems to be the post-credits scene.

Would you like to see Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom make a surprise appearance in Spider-Man 4? Let us know on our social media pages! And stick around with Whatever A Spider Can for everything Spider-Man-related.