Summary
Tom Holland’s fourthSpider-Manfilm is gearing up for production, and you know what that means: casting announcements! The latest one is a doozy, too, at least if you’re a fan of a particular nostalgia-based Netflix series.
Deadlineis reporting that Sadie Sink—best known forStranger Things,The Whale, and twoFear Streetfilms—is joining the ol' webhead for Sony and Marvel’s fourthSpider-Manfilm featuring Tom Holland in the titular role. Not much information is currently available about the highly-anticipated picture outside of Holland’s return, Sink’s addition, its July 2026 release date, and thatShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' Destin Daniel Cretton will be directing. Sink’s role hasn’t even been disclosed to the public yet, which begs the question… who is she playing? As per usual, the rumor mill is firing andone fiery mutant seems to be the betting favorite at the moment.
Option A: Jean Grey
The Frontrunner By All Accounts
There have been rumors about Sink joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Jean Grey for weeks now. That casting makes sense, if Marvel intends on kickstarting the X-Men all over again from the very beginning. Jean Grey was one of the original members of the X-Men who were introduced way back in 1963. Sink is older than Sophie Turner was when she first played Jean Grey in 2016’sX-Men: Apocalypsebut younger than Famke Janssen was when she played the red-headed mutant in 2000’sX-Men. That could mean absolutely nothing, but it is interesting to note, nonetheless. If Sink is actually playing Marvel Girl (or the Phoenix, if you’re nasty), then using her tointroduce a new age of mutants in the MCUwould be an interesting choice for aSpider-Manfilm.
Option B: Mary Jane Watson
The Obvious One, Duh
Everyone sees this particular casting choice coming from a mile away. Sink is one of the most prominent young red-headed actors working in Hollywood today. What red-haired woman is famously a major part of Peter Parker’s life (unless the editorial team at Marvel Comics have anything to say about it)? That’s right, Mary Jane Watson herself. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson go together like peanut butter and jelly. There’s just one tiny little problem: Tom Holland’s Spidey already has an MJ in Zendaya’s Michelle Jones-Watson. Could the MCU get cute and introduce a new MJ now thateveryone has forgotten that Peter Parker even existed?
Option C: Firestar
The Left-Field Option
Another red-headed mutant! Funnily enough, having Firestar join the MCU in aSpider-Manmovie would make a crazy amount of sense. Although Angelica Jones has been an X-Man, an Avenger, a Hellion, a New Warrior and a West Coast Avenger at various times over the years,she didn’t debut in the comic books. No, Jones got her start as a supporting character created for NBC’s early-’80s cartoonSpider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Yes, the show that featured Spider-Man teaming up with Iceman and the new character of Firestar, because they couldn’t get the rights to the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch at the time. Nostalgia is a powerful drug and seeing Firestar join Spidey on the big screen would feel more than a bit poetic.
Option D: Black Cat
The Yin To Spidey’s Yang
If Sony had gotten their way with the hilariously-titled “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” of films, Black Cat would’ve already made her movie debut years ago in the unproducedSilver & Black. As it stands, seemingly nobody wants to see a whole bunch of Spidey-based movies without, you know, Spider-Man in them. Could Sadie Sink play Felicia Hardy? Of course, she could. The good boy-bad girl routine has worked out for Batman and Catwoman on the big screen numerous times over the years. This option isn’t as likely as the more heavily-rumored ones, but it isn’t impossible either… even ifone particular Black Cat casting has been somewhat shut downby series producer Amy Pascal.
Option E: Silver Sable
The “Um, Probably Not”
Ah, the other half of the doomed-from-the-startSilver & Black. Silvija Sablinova—yes, that is her real name, thank you very much—has been around in Marvel Comics since 1985 and has made plenty of appearances outside the funny pages over the decades. For example, she’s been in pretty much everySpider-Mancartoon since the mid-’90s andhad a somewhat-starring rolein Insomniac Games' 2018Spider-Manvideo game. She’s a mercenary with a code of honor who usually leads a group of like-minded individuals known as the Wild Pack. If Kevin Feige and company were going to bring one of Black Cat and Silver Sable to the MCU, the safer bet would be of the feline variety.
Option F: Gwen Stacy
The Least-Likely Choice
This one seems like it is simply not going to happen. Just about the only thing that genuinely worked throughout both ofThe Amazing Spider-Manfilms were Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s onscreen chemistry as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. How much of that was due to their offscreen romance at the time is up to you to decide. But whenever those two got to play off of each other on camera, it was dynamite. Fans even got (an admittedly milquetoast) adaptation of the infamous “Night When Gwen Stacy Died” storyline in 2014’sThe Amazing Spider-Man 2.Multiversal counterparts to the mainline Gwen Stacyare major players in both Sony’sSpider-Versefilms and the Disney Channel’sSpidey & His Amazing Friendspreschool animated series. Crazier things have happened in the MCU—both the Eternals and Inhumans got projects centered around them, after all—but this feels like a real long shot.
So who is Sadie Sink playing in the nextSpider-Manmovie? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. Maybe she’s playing a reincarnated version of Natasha Romanoff! She could be the long-lost daughter of Steve Rogers! Hey, has anyone heard from Kang the Conqueror in a while…?
