Spider-Man 4 Theory Explains How The MCU Can Finally Pay Off The Villain It Set Up 4 Years Ago

One forgotten MCU villain, introduced in 2019, can finally get paid off in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man 4 after the dramatic events of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Secret Invasion on Disney+. 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home brought Tom Holland’s first MCU trilogy as Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, to an end, but set up the young wall-crawler to have a more anonymous and vigilante-style superhero career in the MCU’s future. Following Spider-Man: No Way Home’s release, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures stressed that their relationship is still solid, and the development of Spider-Man 4 for the MCU has since been confirmed, though details on the highly-anticipated project are still scarce.

Spider-Man: No Way Home featured Doctor Strange casting a spell to make everyone forget Peter Parker, leaving the superhero completely isolated ahead of his next adventure in Spider-Man 4. After facing several multiversal threats from Spider-Man’s live-action history in No Way Home, Peter Parker’s story in Spider-Man 4 may be brought back to basics, setting up the web-slinger as more of a street-level hero in the MCU. The inclusion of one iconic Marvel Comics villain, who first appeared in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, would help to accomplish this smaller-scale storyline, and could help to solve a major criticism aimed at the disconnection between projects in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.

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Spider-Man 4 Can Finally Use Chameleon Thanks To Secret Invasion

Numan Acar debuted as Dimitri in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, an associate of Nick Fury’s based on the Marvel Comics villain Dmitri Smerdyakov, a.k.a. the Chameleon. Dimitri’s MCU debut seemed to tease a future evolution of the villain, but this narrative has been forgotten in the four years since. In Marvel Comics, the Chameleon was Spider-Man’s first published villain back in 1963’s The Amazing Spider-Man #1, depicted as a nefarious master of disguise who could impersonate practically anybody. While Fred Hechinger is set to portray the villain in Sony’s Kraven the Hunter, Acar’s appearance as Dimitri in Far From Home suggests the Chameleon could also emerge in the MCU.

While Dmitri Smerdyakov’s later appearances in Marvel Comics show off his innate shape-shifting ability, his earlier stories saw him using make-up and technology to transform his physical appearance. This could be adapted perfectly into the MCU thanks to the introduction of the Photostatic Veil – better known as the Widow’s Veil – in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This technology allowed Natasha Romanoff to disguise her face completely, and returned when used by Nick Fury in 2023’s Secret Invasion. Dimitri and Fury were associates, so it’s possible the former could have got his hands on the Widow’s Veil, allowing him to become the villainous Chameleon in the MCU’s future.

Why Spider-Man 4 Needs To Help Tie The MCU Together Now More Than Ever

Numan Acar’s Dimitri Smerdyakov being featured as the primary antagonist of Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man 4 would help to address a major criticism aimed at the MCU in recent years. Many have been confused about the many disparate storylines that have emerged during the Multiverse Saga, as the franchise has taken many different tangents, so Spider-Man 4, despite being a solo project for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, could help to connect several of these storylines. Bringing back a teased villain from Phase 3 would also help to establish a clear throughline for the MCU, allowing Spider-Man 4 to connect the MCU together in more subtle ways.