Sam Raimi Talks Abandoned “Spider-Man 4” Plans

While there are a lot of films that critics and fans can point to for helping Marvel comic book adaptations become the juggernauts that they are today, such as Blade and The X-Men, the biggest success story, arguably, was Sony’s Spider-Man franchise. Starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi, audiences flocked to the trilogy, with the second movie still considered to be one of the best adaptations ever.

However, negative reactions to the third entry, particularly the ham-fisted inclusion of Venom, led to Sony rethinking it’s plans and ultimately scrapping a fourth film in favor of a reboot, which led to Andrew Garfield taking over the role of Peter Parker in the Amazing Spider-Man films.

Now, with Raimi back in the Marvel fold helming the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the director has been getting a lot of questions during the press tour about his previous experiences. And during an interview with Rolling Stone, Raimi confirmed that his time developing Spider-Man 4 was “painful” and went on to elaborate on his plans stating that:

I wanted to make a Spider-Man movie to redeem myself for that. [The aborted] ‘Spider-Man 4’ – that was really what that was about. I wanted to go out on a high note. I didn’t want to just make another one that pretty much worked. I had a really high standard in my mind. And I didn’t think I could get that script to the level that I was hoping for by that start date. Mysterio was one of the possibilities. We had other things in mind, too, but that was one of them. And I missed Kraven the Hunter. We were going to work that character into the next ‘Spider-Man’; I always wanted to see Kraven fight Spider-Man on the big screen. 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.

It’s definitely interesting to get a glimpse of what Raimi had in mind for Spider-Man 4, and it’s disappointing fans will likely never get to see his plans come to fruition. Notably, Evil Dead actor and frequent Raimi collaborator Bruce Campbell was in line to portray Mysterio after cameoing an each of the films in small, comedic appearances. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases this Friday and who knows, if it’s a hit, maybe Sony and Marvel will have enough confidence to make another entry in the original Spider-Man adaptations, especially considering the fantastic fan response to Maguire reprising the role last year in No Way Home.