So late last week, word leaked that Spider-Man 4 (along with Spider-Man 5 no less) was picking up steam.

[UPDATE: Sony has informed Coming Soon that Tobey Maguire is not being replaced for Spider-Man 4. - Jamie]

Now according to our buddies at Latino Review, a number of young, lesser-known actors are being considered to replace the departing Tobey Maguire to play Spiderman and his dorky alter-ego Peter Parker.

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Ironically, I had just made a remark just this morning on the SuperHero Hype Forum about how we’d yet to hear anything from Sony, Marvel Films & Co. regarding Spider-Man 4.

In fact last we heard, James Vanderbilt (i.e. Zodiac screenwriter) was hired to write Webhead’s 4th cinematic adventure. And that was just a week or so before the WGA Strike started last year.

Since then, it’s been dead silence… until now.

Yes, I know that 2010 is still two years off, but that summer already has a few blockbuster tentpoles lined up (i.e. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Shrek Goes Fourth and Toy Story 3). And things could get pretty heated between the two comic-book tentpoles currently aiming for that summer as well: Sony’s Spider-Man 4 and Warner Brothers’ Superman: The Man of Steel.

In the case of Webhead, it’s still a mystery as to whether or not Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi return. But my shrinking gut (thanks to my diet) says they’re done. To be fair, I could see Raimi having some involvement (i.e. an “executive producer” title isn’t out of the question). However, Maguire showing back up sounds unlikely at this point. I don’t see Sony forking over the kind of paycheck he’ll demand unless he agrees to another multi-film deal and that’s what makes it even more unlikely.

So… an unknown actor could be the way to go. But I’m betting that supporting players like J.K. Simmons, Rosemary Harris and Dylan Baker will definitely return (i.e. cheap and for the sake of the movie franchise’s continuty!)

OK, so most of us hated and/or were insanely let-down by Spider-Man 3. We know it’s a huge question mark as to whether or not Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi show up for Spider-Man 4 while James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) is currently typing away at the script.

I’m not even going to bring up Kirsten Dunst because honestly, no one cares.

So here’s an idea, true-believer (sorry I couldn’t help but unleash my inner Stan “The Man” Lee!) If you called the shots on Spider-Man 4, what would you do? Would you bring back Maguire, Raimi & Co. or flat-out replace them?

By the way, this is for everyone who wants to add their $.02: Readers and my fellow Screen Rant writers. So please, let’s hear your ideas. And there will be a test on this later, boys and girls.

A writer has been hired to pen the screenplay for Spider-Man 4: James Vanderbilt.

Who’s that? He’s the guy who wrote the screenplay for Zodiac, the movie that dramatized the Zodiac killer mystery from the 60’s and 70’s. It received excellent reviews, but not too many people turned out to see it (admittedly, myself included… guess I’ll have to rent it).

In addition the studio is targeting 2009 (no doubt, summer) as the release date for the movie.

No word on whether any of the principal actors (Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, etc.) will be in the fourth film, but I’d be very happy to see Mary Jane relegated to a very minor part of the story.

Source: Cinematical

Sam Raimi doesn’t have to work on anything at all if he doesn’t want to, but his options are wide open. Following the success of his Spider-Man films the red carpet now belongs to him. He’s kicking back and pondering quite a few projects right now, including the possibility of Spider-Man 4. From the sound of it, he (and Marvel and the studio) realize that they need to do something very different with the next Spider-Man film considering the reaction of moviegoers to the weirdness that was Spider-Man 3.

Regarding Spidey, Raimi stated:

“Right now, Sony is meeting with different writers to try and bring a fresh, new story and approach to the ‘Spider-Man’ franchise, different writers have been coming in and spinning different tales of where ‘Spider-Man’ could go from here… A lot of people are working very hard to work on a really good story right now.”

[UPDATE: Is the Venom Movie Moving Finally Moving Forward?]

Avi Arad recently sat down with Garth of DarkHorizons.com to discuss his involvement in the upcoming movie Bratz (which no, I will NOT be covering here on Screen Rant!) and some Marvel projects came up in the discussion.

In particular it seems that things are moving forward, albeit at an early stage, for Spider-Man 4. At this point it’s just at the discussion level with Sony Pictures. What was a surprise for me was the fact that there is a Venom movie in development! I had not heard this previously.

Apparently Sam Raimi may be involved with the production on Spider-Man 4. Wow, that might be one of the worst ideas I have heard this year. Don’t get me wrong, up until Spider-Man 3, Raimi was one of my favorite directors. I love the majority of his movies. Darkman was fun, both Evil Dead films, Army of Darkness, A Simple Plan, the first two Spider-Man movies; he really has done some wonderful films. On top of his movies, he introduced the world to Bruce Campbell. I think his place in the annals of film history is secure for that fact alone.

Spider-Man 3 was a disaster though.

It was chock full of bad dance numbers (a must in super-hero movies, stay tuned for Heroes: The Musical), too many bad guys, and no clear idea as to what it meant to accomplish.

Soooo…. The prints of Spider-Man 3 running in movie theaters are barely dry and already a couple of days ago news began surfacing that yes, there will be a Spider-Man 4. Heck, there will even be a 5, 6 and beyond.

Yeah, we’ll just have to see about that. There is no doubt that Sam Raimi (director of the first three Spiderman movies) is not about to make a lifelong career out of ol’ web head. What does that mean? That either a new director or directors will be brought in, and each one will want to put his own personal mark on the franchise. Sure, it could turn out to be a good thing, but lets keep one thing in mind, shall we?

Nipples on the Batsuit.

Matt, one of the commenters here at Screen Rant mentioned a few days ago that despite reports to the contrary, Tobey Macguire had stated that if Sam Raimi and the rest of the gang return for Spider-Man 4, that he (Tobey) would as well. Most of the movie sites have been stating recently that Macguire was in fact NOT interested in a fourth Spider-Man movie, period.

Well today there’s confirmation that Macguire said that over at SciFiWire. (So Matt, who is YOUR source?)