Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Could Be the Heart of ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ — as Big as Tony Stark, New Reports Claim

Marvel’s road to closing out the Multiverse Saga has been packed with speculation about who exactly will carry the emotional weight of “Avengers: Secret Wars,” especially given how thoroughly Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark anchored the franchise’s last major crossover event. With “Avengers: Doomsday” still to come first, fans have spent months trying to piece together which hero might step into that same kind of pivotal role for the Multiverse Saga’s grand finale.

That speculation has now zeroed in on an unexpected but familiar face. According to insider James Mackwl, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is set to serve as the central protagonist in “Avengers: Secret Wars,” with his character arc reportedly mirroring the exact narrative function Tony Stark served in “Avengers: Infinity War.”

That comparison carries serious emotional weight given how central Stark’s journey was to the Infinity Saga’s climax. Stark’s arc traced a path from selfish billionaire playboy to selfless hero, shaped by trauma from the Battle of New York and the fallout of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” culminating in his desperate, guilt-driven battle against Thanos that ultimately cost him his life while saving the universe.

That sacrifice included one of the MCU’s most quietly devastating scenes: Stark’s final emotional exchange with Holland’s Peter Parker just before snapping his fingers to erase Thanos and his army for good. Given how tightly that mentor-mentee bond shaped both characters across multiple films, seeing Peter potentially inherit that same narrative weight in “Secret Wars” would carry an obvious symbolic resonance for longtime fans.

Marvel has not confirmed any of these details, and the studio has yet to officially reveal which character will anchor “Secret Wars” as its central figure. Still, this isn’t the first time rumors have floated Holland’s Spider-Man taking on a Stark-like role within the Multiverse Saga’s closing chapters, with earlier leaks suggesting Peter could serve as a key plot device tied to Doctor Doom’s own Tony Stark-adjacent backstory heading into the finale.

Complicating matters further is Holland’s own contractual status beyond “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which hasn’t been officially addressed by Marvel regarding future appearances. That uncertainty hasn’t stopped Holland himself from teasing what’s ahead, though, with the actor recently suggesting a potential “Spider-Man 5” is “on the cards” following “Brand New Day’s” record-breaking box office run, even while acknowledging nothing is officially confirmed.

Some fan theories have gone even further, floating the possibility that Holland’s Spider-Man could meet a fate similar to Stark’s ultimate sacrifice, serving as an emotional send-off for the character as the Multiverse Saga wraps up entirely. Given how physically demanding the role has become over Holland’s decade-long tenure, and the complicated Sony-Marvel dynamics that have periodically threatened the character’s future in the shared universe, a definitive send-off within “Secret Wars” wouldn’t be an unreasonable creative choice.

“Avengers: Secret Wars” is currently set to hit theaters on December 17, 2027, giving Marvel plenty of time to finalize exactly how Peter Parker factors into the story before the marketing machine kicks into gear. With “Avengers: Doomsday” still arriving first this December, audiences will likely get their first real hints about where the Multiverse Saga’s endgame is actually headed well before “Secret Wars” itself starts rolling out details.

Given how much narrative gravity Tony Stark’s arc carried across the entirety of the Infinity Saga, handing that same emotional torch to Peter Parker would mark a fitting, full-circle way to close out this next chapter of Marvel storytelling.

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