Now that anything goes in Marvel and DC’s extended cinematic universes, how long before the barminess of the comic-book blockbuster starts to get boring?
![No way back! Why the superhero multiverse is a totally bonkers idea](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/80fb85be94f4db209b61211292a7549d1097eb7a/354_0_3075_1846/master/3075.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=d2370ad36b80806aac7a932f9ee5e5db)
The Multiverse – or should that be Multiverses, as there are now Marvel and DC versions? – is clearly a good thing for superhero movies. Just as naysayers had begun to suggest comic book flicks might have exhausted all their vim and verve, along comes Spider-Man: No Way Home, a movie that uses the introduction of alternate realities to restore characters such as Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and original wall-crawler Tobey Maguire with all the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a nine-year-old who’s just realised he can have He-Man and Jabba the Hutt battling a team comprising Snarf from the Thundercats and the Care Bears?
The problem is, the internet has now worked out that if Maguire and Andrew Garfield can return to the big screen despite having never previously been in any Marvel superhero flicks, fans can really have anyone they want in future episodes. Dig deep enough and there are web rumours that the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could feature the return of Robert Downey Jr as a version of Iron Man from another universe who did not die in the Infinity Wars. Not enough of an eye-popper for you? Some reports have even suggested that Tom Cruise could play a third version of Iron Man.