‘Spider-Man 4’: Sam Raimi Will Only Make Another Sequel on a Few Conditions
Tobey Maguire’s return to his Spider-Man role in Spider-Man: No Way Home last year led to a resurgence of interest in Spider-Man 4, the forgotten follow-up to Maguire’s original web-slinging film trilogy. And with the original Spider-Man movie’s 20th anniversary on May 3, the demand has only increased. Thankfully, director Sam Raimi, who helmed the trilogy, hasn’t completely ruled out Spider-Man 4 — but he has a few stipulations.
Fans called for ‘Spider-Man 4’ with Tobey Maguire after he reprised his role in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
Sony delivered one of its most epic collaborations with Spider-Man: No Way Home — a team-up between Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, three iterations of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Maguire’s and Garfield’s Peters visited Holland’s Peter to help him through a devastating loss and teach him what it meant to be Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Maguire’s and Garfield’s Peters received some brotherly support for their own hardships.
Spider-Man: No Way Home left many fans craving more from Maguire, who hadn’t donned the Spider-Man suit since 2007. Social media campaigns began for Sony and Sam Raimi to collaborate again on Spider-Man 4. Months later, the film is still a hot topic. And while Maguire himself has yet to respond to the Spider-Man 4 hype, he did call it a “blessing” to suit up as Spider-Man in No Way Home.
“There’s so much affinity for this character,” he told Deadline. “It means so much to so many people, that once the goofiness of being in lycra or spandex goes away, you’re like, ‘Oh wow. This is cool. This is a responsibility but a blessing, like something that I get to do that I’m grateful for.’”
Sam Raimi said ‘Spider-Man 4’ would have to answer ‘a lot of questions’
Sam Raimi, on the other hand, has been very vocal about Spider-Man 4. Back in mid-April, the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director admitted that it was “possible” for the film to happen.
“I’ve come to realize after making Doctor Strange that anything is possible, really anything in the Marvel universe, any team-ups,” he told Fandango, noting that he had no plans with Sony or Marvel, but he would love to work with Maguire again.
Now, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Raimi shared exactly what he’d need to make Spider-Man 4 happen, starting with “a great story.”
“It would be the same things that would stop me now that stopped me then: ‘Does Tobey want to do it? Is there an emotional arc for him? Is there a great conflict for this character? And is there a worthy villain that fits into the theme of the piece?'” he said. “There’s a lot of questions that would have to be answered. If those could be answered, then I’d love to.”
Sam Raimi shared his scrapped plans for another Spidey sequel
For what it’s worth, Raimi did have Spider-Man 4 on the table at one point. In fact, Sony even talked about doing Spider-Man 5. However, the plans fell through with several script rewrites. Eventually, Sony moved on to The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield. (And fans want to see more of Garfield’s Spidey, too.)
Raimi opened up to Rolling Stone about what he had planned for Spider-Man 4, starting with two villains: Mysterio (played by Bruce Campbell) and Kraven the Hunter.
“I always wanted to see Kraven fight Spider-Man on the big screen,” Raimi said. “I thought that would be really unique. He’s the ultimate hunter, and Spider-Man is like the most agile trickster of the skies. And I wanted to see Peter continue forward as a human being.”
