Now Studios’ Refusal To Pay Writers Is Keeping Us From ‘Spider-Man 4’

Spider-Man: No Way Home may have wrapped up the first act in the saga of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, but it also left us with some pretty big cliffhangers. How will Peter navigate his new life, now that his identity has been erased from everyone’s memory? Will he try to reconnect with M.J. and Ned? Will Ned ever become a sorcerer? And what about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s already collapsing multiverse?

Unfortunately, although Spider-Man 4 is already in development, we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out what happens to Spidey.

In a recent interview with Variety, Tom Holland explained that development on the next Spider-Man installment is on hold, in solidarity with striking writers.

“I can say that we have been having meetings [about Spider-Man 4],” Holland told Variety. “We’ve put the meetings on pause in solidarity with the writers …. There’s been multiple conversations had, but at this point [Spider-Man 4 is in] very, very early stages.”

The Writers Guild of America, which is made up of writers for film and television, has been on strike since May 2. The decision to strike came after the WGA’s contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expired, and the AMPTP failed to agree to the WGA’s demands. Those demands include fair wages, and the elimination of exploitative labor practices like shortened contracts (sometimes called “mini rooms“) and the use of AI to produce content.

Spider-Man 4 isn’t the only property that’s been affected by the WGA strike. Development on Yellowjackets season 3 stopped after just one day in the writers’ room, as the series’ showrunners joined the picket lines. Craig Mazin and Neil Drukmann, who wrote The Last of Us, also shut down production on the show’s next season, and Neil Gaiman gave a statement from a picket line, possibly impacting The Sandman season 2.

If Marvel fans are frustrated at the delay in the next chapter of Spidey’s story, they can direct their anger at AMPTP. Writers, actors, and other professionals across the entertainment industry agree that WGA’s demands are reasonable, so it’s up to AMPTP to return to the bargaining table in good faith.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)