After his thrilling return during the events of
Spider-Man: No Way Home, Thomas Haden Church may not be finished portraying the iconic supervillain Sandman just yet. After the character's live-action debut in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 fourteen years earlier, the Sandman, a.k.a. Flint Marko, found himself in Earth-616 alongside other supervillains as a result of Doctor Strange's botched spell. Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe film ending with Sandman and the other villains being cured by a trio of Spider-Men, recent indications from the actor himself suggest that the character may still appear in a future project, and there are several intriguing possibilities.
In a recent interview, Thomas Haden Church revealed that he has spoken with Marvel Studios about Sandman's return, though he remains silent on any specific projects that might feature such an exciting event. This certainly comes as a surprise, especially since Sandman was one of the least featured members of No Way Home's villains. Nevertheless, according to Church's comments, he hopes to explore a deeper story involving his character, one which would make better use of the reformed villain than No Way Home did. Based on what Marvel projects are currently slated for the next few years, several movies could feature Church's Sandman.
5 Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4
The likeliest project to feature the return of the Raimiverse's Sandman is the as-yet-untitled Spider-Man 4 with Tom Holland. After all, Flint Marko was last seen during the events of No Way Home, where he found himself magically transferred to Holland's universe. While the film's ending saw Flint and his compatriots transferred to their home universes, there is no reason that the Sandman variant couldn't find himself transferred back to Earth-616 for another bout with the amazing Spider-Man. If this was the case, it would be interesting for the film to explore whether or not individuals from other universes were affected by Doctor Strange's memory wipe spell.
As exciting as the return of Spider-Man 3's villain would be, it is also possible that the Sandman of Earth-616 is introduced in Spider-Man 4, with Thomas Haden Church now playing a new version of his original character. It isn't unheard of for certain actors to reprise their roles between different branches of reality, with JK Simmons's J. Jonah Jameson serving as a notable example. With a new variant of Flint Marko, Spider-Man 4 could bypass the character's heroic redemption and subsequent loss of power in No Way Home to once more make the Sandman one of Spider-Man's most lethal foes.
4 Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man 4
Although the film itself is not official by any means, the most exciting movie for Sandman's return is Sam Raimi's once-cancelled Spider-Man 4. As unlikely as a continuation of the original Spider-Man franchise once seemed, the return of several key characters, including Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus, certainly changed the paradigm regarding universes outside of the MCU. Should a fourth entry to the classic franchise finally be greenlit, it would certainly include an appearance from Thomas Haden Church's Sandman, finally picking up where his storyline was left off at the end of Spider-Man 3 over a decade ago.
Sandman's return in Spider-Man 4 can once more depict the character as an ally of Maguire's superhero, especially now that he has presumably lost his powers following the events of No Way Home. Moreover, the storyline revolving around Flint Marko's sick daughter can once more take the spotlight, exploring how far he is still willing to go in order to protect her--and whether or not that involves a return to villainy. Such a return would certainly prove far more complex for Thomas Haden Church's character than his part in No Way Home, giving Sandman greater depth and a more compelling arc overall.
3 Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
With a multiversal story like the upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, truly anything is possible, laying the seeds for plenty of amazing cameos therein. A sequel to the hit 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the upcoming film is pushing the boundaries of what a multiversal story can be as it gathers more and more worlds into its sprawling universe. Already, Across the Spider-Verse is expected to span at least six different universes. This has led to theories that previously visited universes, including that of the Raimiverse, could show up in Across the Spider-Verse, bringing with them a host of surprise character cameos.
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