Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige Just Revealed Why Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Trilogy Never Went Bigger, and the Answer Says a Lot

Franchise filmmaking in 2026 has become almost synonymous with escalation, with sequels routinely piling on more characters, higher stakes, and bigger set pieces than the film before it. That formula has worked for plenty of franchises, but it’s also led to genuine burnout among audiences who feel like every follow-up is just chasing scale for its own sake.

Against that backdrop, it’s worth asking why Sony and Marvel took a very different approach with Tom Holland’s most recent Spider-Man trilogy, one that never chased a bigger villain roster or a flashier premise the way many expected.

Producers Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige addressed that exact question directly, revealing that they never considered pushing ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ bigger than the three-Spider-Man spectacle of ‘No Way Home.’ Speaking during a recent podcast appearance, Pascal explained that going bigger simply wasn’t realistic, joking that “it’s hard to get bigger than three Spider-Man,” while Feige playfully pointed out that Pascal already handles that kind of scale in her animated ‘Spider-Verse’ films, which have featured well over a hundred versions of the character across the multiverse.

The comments echo similar remarks Pascal made in a separate conversation, where she explained that the creative team behind the franchise consciously chose to go deeper with Peter Parker as a person rather than continuing to escalate the scope of the action. She noted that every time she and her producing partners, including Feige and Rachel O’Connor, sit down to plan a new film, the conversation always centers on what story Peter Parker himself needs next, not what bigger spectacle the film could deliver.

That approach lines up with what ‘Brand New Day’ ultimately delivered, a story that leaned into Peter’s isolation and emotional journey rather than assembling an even larger cast of heroes and villains than ‘No Way Home’ had already brought together. It’s a notable departure from the pattern many blockbuster franchises follow, where each new installment tries to top its predecessor’s scale almost as a matter of course.

Pascal and Feige’s dynamic throughout this press tour has also become something of its own attraction, with the two frequently trading playful jabs during interviews promoting the film. Their appearance alongside Tom Holland, marking a broader retrospective look back at nearly a decade of his run as the character, gave both producers space to reflect candidly on how they’ve approached the franchise’s creative direction.

Beyond the “three Spider-Man” comment, the same conversation touched on lingering questions about a long-rumored crossover between Holland’s Spider-Man and Tom Hardy’s Venom, with both producers maintaining that hope for such a team-up is still alive, even without any concrete plans currently in place. That ongoing uncertainty has become a running theme across their press appearances, one fans continue to bring up at nearly every opportunity.

For a franchise that could have easily leaned into bigger multiversal chaos following the success of ‘No Way Home,’ Pascal and Feige’s comments suggest a deliberate choice to keep the story grounded in Peter Parker’s own arc instead. Whether that restraint continues to pay off creatively will likely shape where the webslinger’s story heads next, but for now, the producers seem confident they made the right call by not simply chasing scale for its own sake.

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