Marvel’s Spider-crew has been mercilessly toying with fans today, with stars Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya each sharing different title cards revealing different titles for the next MCU Spider-Man film. According to Holland’s Instagram, the third film will be called Spider-Man: Phone Home, giving a distinct E.T. vibe. However, Batalon’s feed declared the title to be Spider-Man: Home-Wrecker. To make matters more confusing, Zendaya then announced a third potential name: Spider-Man: Home Slice.
Unfortunately, Holland didn’t seem inclined to clear up any of the confusion in an interview with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday. The one thing the current Spider-Man would say, however, is that, despite rampant fan speculation, former Spider-Men Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire do not have cameos in the film.
“It would be amazing if they were [in Spider-Man 3], because they haven’t told me that yet and I am Spider-Man and I’ve read the script from beginning to the end,” Holland told Fallon. “It would be a miracle if they could have kept that from me. But at the moment there is no cameo from the two boys.”
Of course, considering at least two of the film’s stars were blatantly spreading mistruths about the film just today, it’s fair to take Holland’s statements with a few grains of salt.
So what do all these alternate Spider-Man titles mean? We just don’t know. One possibility is that they’re hinting at the Marvel multiverse fans have long speculated about. The mere title of upcoming film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness certainly indicates the existence of one, while Peter’s conversations with Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home helped lay the groundwork. We also know that Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx are coming over from their respective Spider-Man series (Raimi/Maguire and Webb/Garfield, respectively) to reprise their roles as Doc Ock and Electro, potentially indicating some inter-universe shenanigans. (And J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson, a highlight of the Raimi films, is already on the scene, thanks to that massive Far From Home mid-credits moment.)
On the other hand, these shenanigans could also just be an elaborate smokescreen to obscure any of the accidental spoiler slips Holland has become notorious for, or to heighten anticipation for the film.
Whatever it is, fans are eagerly waiting to find out exactly what the third Spider-Man film will be called — and how it will address Far From Home‘s massive cliffhanger.
Spider-Man: Phone Home/Home-Wrecker/Home Slice is currently scheduled for release Dec. 17.