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Hulu with Live TV free trial: Everything you need to know

We all know that streaming services are extremely convenient and provide a ton of content, but if you’re among those who miss cable and live TV, the good news is that you have options among the best live TV streaming services. Hulu has its own live TV streaming service in its Hulu with Live TV package, which will let you simply watch whatever’s on at a given time instead of having to decide among all of the available content. Hulu with Live TV is a more comprehensive streaming service than basic Hulu though, so a subscription is going to be more expensive. If you want to try it out before committing to the additional cost, we highly recommend signing up for a free trial, and here’s what you need to know.

Is there a Hulu with Live TV free trial?

There’s still no Disney Plus free trial, but Hulu with Live TV is now offering a three-day free trial, which should give you more than enough time to check out all the live TV content that’s available on the service. In addition to shows and movies on Hulu, you’ll be able to watch ad-supported content from Disney+, ESPN+, alongside live TV channels such as ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNBC, ESPN, Food Network, Nickelodeon, and so many more.

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There’s also a Hulu free trial for the basic ad-supported service that lasts for 30 days, if you want to see if Hulu’s non-live catalog of shows and movies is worth it.

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Can you get Hulu with Live TV for free?

There’s no way to get Hulu with Live TV for free through Hulu itself right now. Sometimes, you can get free streaming subscriptions (for a set length of time, at least) with internet or cellular service providers that run such offers to draw in new customers, although this is more common with standalone streaming apps like Disney+ or ESPN+ rather than live TV streaming packages. Retailers will also sometimes offer extended trials of streaming services with purchases such as TVs, so if you’re in no hurry to sign up right away, then keep your eyes peeled for deals like these.

Although there’s no Hulu with Live TV free trial and you can’t get it for free, bear in mind that this is one of our favorite streaming bundles for a reason. That reason is that you get a lot of content with your membership. Along with Hulu and more than 75 live TV channels, the package now includes Disney+ and ESPN+ as well. This is a relatively recent change. Before, you could bundle Disney+ and ESPN+ for an additional fee if you wanted to, but now they are included by default.

Alternatively, you might consider some of the other services with offers, like the Amazon Prime Video free trial, HBO Max free trial, the Showtime free trial, or even the Sling TV free trial. They’re certainly not the same as Hulu, but they offer plenty of content to watch, especially on top of a subscription you already have!

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Are there any Hulu with Live TV deals?

Currently, the most expensive Hulu with Live TV plan includes Hulu with no ads, Live TV, Disney+ with no ads and ESPN+ with ads. That is $96 per month. However, you can save $13 per month if you accept ads on all parts of the platform and $8 per month if you accept ads on Hulu and ESPN+. There’s also a plan that just gives you Live TV only — in other words, you don’t get access to the Hulu library, Disney+, or ESPN+ — which costs $82 per month, saving you $14 off of the highest-tier plan.

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May 5, 2025
Sinners review: a fiendishly fantastic horror masterpiece
Sinners review: a fiendishly fantastic horror masterpiece

5/5

★★★★★

Score Details

“Sinners is a fantastic and frightening masterpiece from one of cinema’s best, most ambitious directors.”

✅ Pros
- Fantastic characters and performances
- Outstanding visuals and musical numbers
- An incredible score from Ludwig Göransson
- A unique blend of genres with Southern folklore
- Powerful social commentary
Writer-director Ryan Coogler has unleashed another blockbuster phenomenon with his vampire horror film, Sinners. This story follows twin gangster brothers who return to their hometown in Mississippi in the 1930s, hoping to open a juke joint with the money they gained working for Al Capone. However, their joint’s opening night is ruined when their musical entertainment attracts vampires eager to crash their party and kill everyone there.

Coogler made a bold move by stepping outside the world of IP-based franchises to make Sinners. Ultimately, the director established himself as a cinematic force of nature with this thrilling and terrifying blockbuster. Coogler clearly put his heart and soul into this movie, exploring systemic oppression in America in a refreshingly original vampire story filled with action, terror, and beautiful sights and sounds.

Sinners also features several layered and compelling characters brought to life by such incredible performers. If Coogler focuses on making horror movies from now on, such a decision would be welcome, as Sinners is proof that he knows how to make a frightening and epic blockbuster.

An exceptional band of actors and characters

Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures

Michael B. Jordan delivers a stellar dual performance as brothers Smoke and Stack, with incredible visual effects seamlessly putting them on screen together. Aside from their color-coded costumes, Jordan and the film give each of these brothers enough distinguished traits to make it easy to tell them apart. Jordan also projects enough confidence, menace, and empathy with both characters to make them fearsome and sympathetic antiheroes.

On top of that, Sinners populates its world with plenty of life as Smoke and Stack assemble characters to help out at their juke joint like they’re assembling the Avengers. Each character presents a rich backstory in such little time, making it easy for audiences to empathize and connect with them, which makes seeing them bite the dust even harder.

These supporting players are also elevated by the actors portraying them. Miles Caton is a revelation as the blues-singing Sammie, who has a voice that moves mountains and makes movie magic. Hailee Steinfeld strikes the right balance of confidence and vulnerability in her performance as Mary. Delroy Lindo brings plenty of pathos and fiery comic relief as Delta Slim. Finally, Jack O’Connell plays the vampire Remmick perfectly as the devilishly charismatic villain that everyone knows they should fear but is nevertheless compelling.

A visual and musical marvel

Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures

In his second collaboration with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Ryan Coogler paints a vast and immersive portrait of 1930s Mississippi fitting for this epic blockbuster. Sinners delivers several breathtaking visuals captured on both Ultra Panavision 70mm and 15-perf 70mm IMAX cameras. Each frame of this film captures its world with such scope, detail, and beauty that not witnessing it all in a theater would feel like a sin to cinephiles.

The movie’s various musical numbers also make it a remarkable new addition to the horror genre as a whole. The film reaches a crescendo when Sammie’s music summons spirits from the past and future to play and dance with, assembling styles and instruments from different generations in an incredible long take that turns Sinners into a mind-blowing, cinematic orchestra. At the same time, composer Ludwig Göransson makes the film even more immersive with another outstanding original score.

A creative and distinctive social horror story

Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures

Given the countless vampire stories that have been made over the years, Sinners could’ve been just another addition to the genre. Sinners does feature elements that harken back to Salem’s Lot, Night of the Living Dead, The Thing, and From Dusk Till Dawn. However, Coogler presents a fresh new take on classic vampires with his film, utilizing Southern folklore and setting the story in the Jim Crow-era South with plenty of blood-pumping action and frightening scares to keep audiences’ eyes glued to the screen.

Sinners also makes room to send some powerful messages about prejudice and race relations in America, with the Ku Klux Klan’s hanging over this movie until its explosive finale. On the other hand, Coogler cleverly uses vampires as symbols of the suppression of Black people and culture, as they try to steal Sammie’s music and kill and assimilate everyone at the juke joint. However, by tempting its characters with the promise of eternal life filled with “love and fellowship,” Remmick and his vampire cohort are a perfect, well-rounded contrast to the lead duo, who seek to build a new life for themselves in a country that seems determined to tear them down.

Is Sinners worth a watch?

Sinners | Official Trailer

Absolutely. Sinners is the coolest horror movie of the decade. Ryan Coogler may have become a household name by directing films based on existing properties, including Creed and Black Panther. However, with his incredible new vampire movie, Coogler has established himself as one of the most ambitious and inventive directors of modern cinema. Here’s hoping that Sinners will result in even more original projects by Coogler.

Sinners is now playing in theaters.
April 18, 2025
7 best moments from Novocaine

Paramount Pictures’ film Novocaine has already become one of the best action and comedy movies of 2025. Featuring Jack Quaid as a banker who can’t feel pain, the story presents plenty of memorable moments as the protagonist takes on a team of bank robbers to rescue his true love. Whether it’s because of the humor, violence, or emotion on display, many scenes in Novocaine have made it an entertaining and distinctive spectacle.

Nathan and Sherry’s first date

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

Nathan begins his journey when he musters the courage to ask his crush, Sherry, out on a date. While things start out awkward between them, things turn around when Nathan opens up to her about his insensitivity to pain and the challenges he faces as a result. Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder show off terrific chemistry with each other in this scene. It’s also heartwarming to see Sherry help Nathan savor life as the latter takes childlike joy in eating his first piece of pie. Thus, this adorable and emotional scene sets them up as the film’s true power couple.

The kitchen fight

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

After impulsively chasing after Sherry and the bank robbers, Nathan finds himself fighting with Ben, one of the robbers, in a grizzly but goofy sequence. This scene feels like something out of a Deadpool movie, as Nathan delivers many awkward and silly lines as his opponent throws him around the room. Since he can’t feel pain, Nathan also dishes out some clever and brutal blows to Ben before shooting him dead. In the end, this fight makes for a ridiculous but huge first step for Nathan in his blood-soaked journey.

Ben’s booby traps

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

When Nathan searches through Ben’s house, the hero finds himself walking through a series of booby traps in a hysterical scene reminiscent of Home Alone. Though he gets a spiked ball to his back and an arrow to his leg, the way Nathan just iritably brushes off these medieval traps is like something out of a cartoon. It’s with this scene that Novocaine begins to take advantage of Nathan’s condition to deliver some good ol’ slapstick comedy.

Andre “tortures” Nathan

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

When Nathan is hung from the ceiling by a trap rope, he manipulates Ben’s brother Andre into torturing him as he stalls for Roscoe to come and save him. The sight of Nathan’s fingernails getting pulled out is disturbing. However, Jack Quaid’s performance in this scene makes it must-see comedy. It’s hilarious to see Nathan fail to act like he feels pain and somehow gets away with it, which is actually a testament to Quaid’s acting abilities.

Roscoe to the rescue

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

Jacob Batalon’s character, Roscoe, spends much of Novocaine off-screen, talking to Nathan on the phone, hoping not to get involved in his deadly crusade. This only makes his appearance to rescue Nathan from Andre all the more rewarding. Though Roscoe accidentally throws a knife through Nathan’s hand, he succeeds in helping his pal deliver a gruesome beatdown, culminating in an inspired kill as Nathan forces an arrow through his leg and into Andre’s skull.

Tattoo parlor fight

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

When Nathan’s search for the robbers takes him to a shady tattoo parlor, the hero finds himself facing off against the hulking Zeno. Though the former is clearly outmatched in terms of size, Nathan punches glass shards into his fists, giving him his own pair of Wolverine claws. Once again, the film takes advantage of Nathan’s condition to present some creative ultraviolence. Even after Nathan gouges his opponent’s eyes and tortures him with a tattoo pen, the cherry on top in this scene is how he cheekily wipes his hand with sanitizer after all that carnage.

Nathan vs. Simon

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

Novocaine reaches a brutal and thrilling climax when Nathan faces off against Simon after heart-pounding ambulance chase. Simon matches Nathan’s pain insensitivity with his special forces training and relentless sadism, with the latter delivered to chilling perfection by actor Ray Nicholson. It really seems like Nathan couldn’t win in the scene. Fortunately, with some help from Sherry and a shot of adrenaline, Nathan gets the upper hand and defeats his foe by stabbing Simon through the head with his own exposed arm bone. This makes for an intense and visceral finale to a spectacularly over-the-top film.

March 27, 2025
E.T. go home … with the highest bidder

Movie memorabilia is a serious business, which is why this E.T. model that appeared in Steven Spielberg’s hit 1982 movie could fetch as much as a million bucks in a Sotheby’s auction that ends on April 3.

The E.T. model is part of a collection of movie-related items being brought to auction by the estate of its creator, Italian special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi, who also worked on legendary movies such as King Kong (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Alien (1979).

The E.T. model up for auction is the one that appeared in the movie’s iconic closet scene in which the alien tries to disguise itself among Elliott’s stuffed animals to avoid being discovered by his mother.

The model is 17 inches wide, 36 inches tall, and 12 inches deep (43.2 x 91.4 x 30.5 cm), and has an aluminum frame covered with latex, foam, straw, acrylic paint, and adhesive.

“There was one ground rule in the studio where Rambaldi and the special effects team brought the creature to life: ‘E.T. is not a monster,’” the auction house says in the lot’s description on its website.

“Working from Melissa Mathison’s screenplay that intentionally declined to include a physical description of its central character, Rambaldi created the look of E.T. entirely off reference images provided by Spielberg.

“The director recalled: ‘I remember saying to Carlo, ‘Here’s some pictures of Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, and Carl Sandburg. How can we make E.T.’s eyes as frivolous, wizened, and also as sad as those three icons?””

Six months after first showing Spielberg his vision for E.T., Rambaldi and his team of four assistants completed the first of four full-scale working models of the diminutive alien.

Rambaldi’s E.T. models could colledctively make 86 different movements — from blinking eyes to delicate grasps of the hand — through a combination of animatronics, mechatronics, and puppetry. The original animatronic model sold for a colossal $2.6 million at an auction in 2022.

You can put in a bid for the lot now (you’ll need a minimum of $500,000), with the hammer coming down on April 3.

What the winning bidder will do with the E.T. model is anyone’s guess. They could do the sensible thing and put it in a museum, or alternatively have some fun with it and stick it in the passenger seat for trips to the mall. That would turn a few heads.

March 24, 2025
Novocaine review: A hilarious and heartful thrill-ride
Novocaine review: A hilarious and heartful thrill-ride

4.5/5

★★★★☆

Score Details

“”Novocaine” is a hilarious and clever film that introduces Jack Quaid’s unconventional but ultraviolent action hero.”

✅ Pros
- Well-rounded characters
- Terrific cast performances
- A meticulous, surprising screenplay
- Creative action scenes
❌ Cons
- Gore and violence that some may have trouble swallowing
Paramount Pictures has unveiled an instant action-comedy classic with the 2025 blockbuster Novocaine. Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Significant Other), this movie follows Jack Quaid (The Boys) as a mild-mannered banker with congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) who pursues a group of robbers to rescue the woman he loves.

Featuring a unique concept and a talented cast, Novocaine uses a real-life disorder to deliver a gruesome and imaginative action film filled with slapstick humor and poignant drama. In an age where cinema is all but saturated by formulaic action flicks, Novocaine comes in and sets another high precedent for the genre.

The performances

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

Jack Quaid brings another action/comedy hero icon to life with his performance as Nathan Caine, a.k.a. Novocaine. Quaid’s success in this role is not surprising, as he has thrived playing the dorky and lovable everyman in several projects, particularly The Boys. At the same time, Amber Midthunder continues to cement herself as one of cinema’s rising stars playing Sherry in Novocaine. Her layered performance makes her a fantastic lead opposite Quaid, and their on-screen chemistry makes them both the perfect couple.

Likewise, actor Ray Nicholson nails his performance as the Joker-esque bank robber/murderer Simon Greenly. The sadistic glee he takes in causing death and torment shows his true potential in portraying menacing figures following his breakout role in Smile 2. Jacob Batolon also deserves credit for his performance as Roscoe, bringing plenty of comic relief with the sharp quips and perfect timing he’s displayed as Ned Leeds in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies.

The characters

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

Novocaine presents Nathan as an unconventional superhero thanks to his real-life disorder. While he is immune to pain, he is afraid of hurting himself with the ways he tries to avoid damaging his body by accident. Fortunately, Sherry helps him break out of his shell, with a simple taste of pie helping him live life to the fullest, making for an inspiring and well-rounded journey for his character. Overall, Novocaine makes it impossible not to love and route for Nathan with how he helps whoever he can. Even when he’s getting battered around by thugs and bank robbers, he can’t but awkwardly apologize and try to play nice.

Sherry’s character is also noteworthy for how she defies expectations. She could’ve been just another superhero movie love interest for Nathan. Instead, Novocaine presents her as a conflicted woman with depression seeking redemption rather than another damsel in distress. With the revelation that she was in on the bank robbery, Novocaine flips the story on its head as Nathan finds himself trying to save a woman who deceived him. Nevertheless, as Sherry tries to do good and save Nathan, Novocaine gives her character agency as she takes the wheel to make this story hers, just as much as it is Nathan’s.

An inventive, bloody story

Paramount Pictures / Paramount Pictures

There’s no doubt that Novocaine is meticulous with its storytelling. The film exploits every little detail to deliver a surprising and creative film, particularly when it comes to its fight scenes. Taking advantage of his insensitivity to pain, Nathan utilizes everything at his disposal to dish out some inventive kills. These creative moments includes forcing an arrow through his leg into a robber’s skull and impaling Simon with his own exposed arm bone.

The violence in this movie can be gratuitous at times, with images of broken bones and ripped-out fingernails threatening to upset more squeamish viewers. Fortunately, Nathan’s condition helps bring levity to such visceral moments in the vein of Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool. It’s not often that a character is happy to let someone torture them as they stall for time, and Quaid’s fake cries of pain make such a gory moment flat-out hilarious.

Is Novocaine worth seeing?

Novocaine | Official Trailer (2025 Movie) – Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder

Most definitely. Novocaine is more than just another gory action movie. It’s a layered and well-crafted story exploring how people hide their true selves and the challenges they face, whether it’s Nathan’s insensitivity to pain or Sherry’s history of depression and self-harm. The film balances its more grounded drama with plenty of hysterical and heart-pounding moments.

Overall, Novocaine reminds viewers that there is plenty of room for fresh, original action films in modern cinema. Nathan Caine stands out from Marvel and DC movies as a unique kind of superhero, and it would be quite a welcome treat to see more of him in this new action-comedy franchise. Novocaine may be difficult for some viewers to swallow, but action genre fans will undoubtedly enjoy this ultraviolent feast of a film.
March 23, 2025
The Electric State review: a bold but underwhelming blockbuster
The Electric State review: a bold but underwhelming blockbuster

2/5

★★☆☆☆

Score Details

“The Electric State is a vast, sci-fi spectacle that fails to light a big enough spark.”

✅ Pros
- Fantastic visual effects
- Some fine, emotional moments
❌ Cons
- Lackluster cast performances
- One-dimensional characters
- A clunky, rushed dialogue
Acclaimed directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame) presented another sci-fi blockbuster with The Electric State. A loose adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s graphic novel, this film depicts Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) as teenager Michelle, who teams up with the robot Cosmo and a smuggler, played by Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), to find her long-long brother in a world in which sentient robots revolted against humanity in the 1990s.

The Russo Brothers have had a mixed run with their films following Endgame‘s massive success. Nevertheless, The Electric State had been hyped as one of Netflix’s biggest original films with its enormous budget and all-star talent. Though the film is a sight to behold, The Electric State suffers from several problems that have made it an underwhelming sci-fi epic.

The Electric State is a visual spectacle

Netflix / Netflix

Since The Electric State is a post-apocalyptic, robot-filled blockbuster, the filmmakers had to do the visual effects right to have any hope of hooking its audience. Fortunately, they didn’t disappoint in that department, as it seamlessly presents the film’s live-action humans with its many CGI robots. While the mechanical characters were mostly silly, The Electric State at least presented a wide variety of bots with creative designs that harken back to Pixar’s WALL-E.

The movie’s visuals are consistently top-tier, especially during the Endgame-style final battle between Sentre and the machines, presenting a bombastic sci-fi spectacle that has been expected from modern Hollywood blockbusters. On top of that, The Electric State succeeds in building a vast and ruined world filled with giant robot scraps, with images that look like they were taken straight from the pages of Stålenhag’s book.

The writing is all over the place

Netflix / Netflix

The Electric State‘s story is notable for its relevant commentary about humanity’s addiction to technology. As characters hook themselves up to machines, working in isolation from home and escaping in the virtual world, this story feels ever more timely following the pandemic and the frightening advancement of artificial intelligence.

Unfortunately, The Electric State spends too much time explaining things and repeating information. The opening sequence about the war with machines is a glaring example of how the film fails to follow the “show, don’t tell” rule. The pacing is also very jarring. Everything happens so fast, with the characters throwing lines at each other at breakneck speed as the film jumps from one scene to the next. The movie hardly gives viewers a moment to breathe and take in what they’ve witnessed.

It’s clear that the Russo Brothers tried to recapture the childlike magic of Steven Spielberg’s films, as The Electric State features many parallels to E.T., Ready Player One, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It also helped that the film delivered a thrilling score from legendary composer Alan Silvestri, which invokes the best notes from the ’80s and the Avengers movies.

However, The Electric State overloads on its campiness, presenting several goofy sci-fi characters with so many corny, nonsensical jokes that it’s hard to take this dystopian sci-fi film seriously. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have shown remarkable talent with their work on the last two Avengers films, and the duo clearly could’ve tapped into so much more than what was on display in The Electric State.

The actors hardly light a spark

Paul Abell/Netflix / Netflix

Considering their success working with A-list ensembles in the past, the Russo Brothers could’ve harnessed so much more from their incredible cast on The Electric State. Unfortunately, much of the acting seems unconvincing and doesn’t always match the tone of the scene. Even when Michelle is fighting for her life against terrifying odds, she still has a habit of giving moody, wisecracking complaints.

Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito also fell flat with their respective performances as Ethan Skate and Marshall Bradbury, though they didn’t have much to work with playing such lackluster villains. Millie Bobby Brown and Woody Norman still deserve praise for their performances together, as they present plenty of pathos in their scenes as sister and brother. There’s no doubt the cast could’ve done so much better had they had the right material, but there was hardly enough electricity in what they delivered.

Is The Electric State worth seeing?

Ultimately, The Electric State is perfect for those hoping to watch an easy blockbuster. The film is a bold and timely undertaking, but don’t go into this film expecting the next hit franchise. Whatever great story the filmmakers intended to tell seems buried beneath a pile of awkward jokes, one-dimensional characters, and expositional dialogue. It is worth reiterating that the Russo Brothers have succeeded in crafting some of the world’s best blockbusters and have shown extraordinary skills as filmmakers. Though The Electric State featured great promise, one can hope that the Russos will at least learn from this experience as they continue their craft.

The Electric State is now streaming on Netflix.
March 21, 2025
How will Spider-Man 4 reinvent The MCU’s webslinger?

Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of 2026’s most highly anticipated blockbusters. Spider-Man: No Way Home set a high bar for the titular hero back in 2021, making fans wonder how Marvel Studios will follow this movie and whether or not it will succeed in theaters.

Though the wait has been long and confusing, Marvel Studios has finally found director Jon Watts’s replacement in Destin Daniel Cretton, and filming for Spider-Man 4 is set to commence in the summer of 2025. With so much hype built around this fourth solo film, one can only imagine how the story could change the MCU’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

Will Spider-Man lead the new Avengers?

Sony / Sony

Since Spider-Man 4 is scheduled to premiere a couple of months after Avengers: Doomsday, it is possible that the latter’s story will lead into the web-slinger’s next adventure. If so, Spider-Man 4 may show Peter Parker taking a leading role in the war against Doctor Doom. No Way Home showed him beginning to work as a team leader, fighting alongside his two variants from across the Multiverse to save his world from destruction. His fourth film could show him following in Iron Man’s footsteps and leading the new Avengers against Doom or whatever threat they have to face.

A more distinctive style

Sony / Sony

Destin Daniel Cretton made quite an impression with his superhero martial arts film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. At one point, he was even supposed to direct the fifth Avengers movie, showing how much faith Marvel Studios has in his skills and judgment as a filmmaker. Though Jon Watts did extraordinarily well with his Spider-Man films, Cretton could present a new look to the franchise with Spider-Man 4 that could further set it apart from the rest of the MCU.

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy continues to stand out today thanks to the director’s unique and dynamic visual style. Cretton could bring his own distinctive style to create a unique cinematic experience for audiences. The eye-catching visuals and blinding choreography presented in Shang-Chi hint at the kind of film Cretton will create for Spidey’s next solo outing.

A darker tone

Sony / Sony

Spider-Man: No Way Home showed Peter entering darker regions than before, as he lost his Aunt May and nearly killed the Green Goblin in a vengeful rage. Since Peter now lives alone in a world that no longer remembers his civilian identity, he could have to face even more inner demons as an isolated vigilante. This approach could help distinguish the hero’s next adventure from the more lighthearted films in the MCU. It could also make for a refreshing change of pace as audiences continue to suffer superhero fatigue after Marvel’s latest projects.

Will Spider-Man find new love?

Sony / Sony

Since Peter decided not to tell MJ about their past together at the end of No Way Home, they may remain apart in the hero’s next film. Zendaya is set to reprise her role as MJ in Spider-Man 4, but it is unclear what her role and relationship with Peter will be like in the movie. While Peter and MJ were a terrific couple, and Holland and Zendaya have incredible chemistry together, having them reconnect so soon after No Way Home may cheapen the sacrifice Peter made to protect MJ from his life as Spider-Man.

However, there is still a chance that Petter will find love in his new life, possibly one who is more equipped to live in his world as a superhero. Peter has had many romantic interests in the comics, so there are multiple routes that his love life will take. While Gwen Stacy is a likely candidate, fans have been pining for Peter to finally have a relationship with Felicia Hardy/Black Cat on the big screen, which could allow Marvel to do something different with Spider-Man for his next movie.

Will Spider-Man have new friends?

Sony / Sony

Just as Peter may find a new love interest, the hero may also find a new group of friends to support him. Since Ned and all his other classmates have forgotten who Peter is, the latter may start fresh and find new pals as he fights crime or continues his studies. Peter was studying to receive his GED at the end of No Way Home, so this may lead to him attending Empire State University and making new friends like in the comics.

Will Peter meet Venom and more?

Sony Pictures Releasing / Sony Pictures Releasing

For a while, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe seemed to be building up to Tom Hardy’s Venom joining Tom Holland’s Spider-Man on the big screen, along with the other members of the former’s rogues’ gallery. However, a slew of critical and commercial failures seem to have crushed Sony’s plans, especially now that the Venom trilogy has concluded. There was a lot that Sony could’ve done by having Spider-Man encounter characters like Venom, Morbius, Knull, and Kraven the Hunter.

However, parallel universes still leave that opportunity on the table. Since Spider-Man 4 seems like it will be another Multiverse film, Marvel could finally pay off all that buildup and have Peter encounter Venom and multiple other characters from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

March 13, 2025