“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” almost featured another legendary Avenger — Spider-Man.
Did Spider-Man appear in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ at all?
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” head writer Malcolm Spellman recently told Inverse that he wanted to include other superheroes in the series, and he considered having Peter Parker swoop in to save the day during the final battle in New York.
But Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige turned down the idea, Spellman said when asked about whether he tried to add superheroes to the film.
“Of course! Then Kevin Feige tells you, ‘No. Stop it.’ Listen, when you first show up to these projects, in your mind you think you’re gonna get to use everybody in the MCU. But Marvel always asks, ‘Does this person belong in this story? You cannot just geek out and put all of our characters in your project because you like them. They have to occur organically.’ So Spider-Man did not make it.”
Per The Direct, this has a connection to a constant question among comic book fans — why don’t some heroes help out other heroes during times of crisis?
- “The same problem that plagued Marvel comic books for years will now affect the films, which is superheroes not bothering to ask for help from other superheroes,” according to the Direct.
Some of the reasons can be explained by character traits — like Tony Stark not wanting help from others — but it’s never fully explained why heroes don’t help others, even if they’re all in the same city.
For Spider-Man, there may be a reason he didn’t show up to help Falcon and Winter Soldier take on the Global Repatriation Council. According to ScreenRant, “Falcon and Winter Soldier” takes place six months after “Avengers: Endgame.” Meanwhile, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” takes place about eight months after “Endgame.”
“It’s safe to say that the Flag-Smashers’ attack on the GRC in New York probably overlapped with Peter Parker’s trip to Venice,” according to ScreenRant. “So, at this point, Spider-Man could have fought the Flag-Smashers as a beloved hero instead of the public menace the world considers him after ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home,’ but he just wasn’t available.”