Sam Raimi's Canceled Spider-Man 4: Cast, Plot Points & Everything We Know

Sam Raimi's unrealized plans for Spider-Man 4 are promising. Instead of treading the same path as most superhero movies of the time and drawing a clear line between fact and fiction, Sam Raimi brought new life to big-screen superhero adaptations by spinning Spider-Man's fantastical yarn into realistic, relatable stories. With Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker at its fore, Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy highlights the coming-of-age ebbs and flows of a teenage hero who endures the lonely pursuit of keeping his neighborhood safe.

After the success of Raimi's Spider-Man 1 and 2, the third installment had relatively mixed reviews. Despite the decline in critical ratings, its box office numbers convinced Sony to green-light another, with Raimi again at its helm. Though it would set the tone for future MCU movies, a web of issues kept holding it back, and Spider-Man 4 never happened. Since Maguire's cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Raimi's trilogy garnered a new wave of popularity, with his unfinished plans for Spider-Man 4 surfacing. The director's ideas are not only in sync with the elements that made his original trilogy great but are scalable enough to kickstart more.

The Latest Spider-Man 4 News

Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 2002

Sam Raimi has confessed that his "love for the characters hasn’t diminished one iota," but would only revisit the trilogy if it provides plausible answers for some nagging questions such as "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?" MCU's Multiverse Saga changed all that. The director has also admitted that even though he did not think it was previously possible, the new movies have given him hope, and he is open to directing a new Spider-Man installment.

Kirsten Dunst has been optimistic about the franchise's future and claimed it would be "a no-brainer" to return for a future Spider-Man film as Mary Jane. While Sam Raimi and Kirsten Dunst are open to recreating the trilogy's magic with Spider-Man 4, Tobey Maguire was quieter about it. However, his return to Spider-Man: No Way Home shows he still appreciates the role. In the new book Spider-Man No Way Home: The Official Movie Special, Tobey Maguire talked about playing Spider-Man and delivered some great news for fans. He said he would be willing to return and do anything Marvel wanted him to do.

I love these films and I love all of the different series. If these guys called me and said, “Would you show up tonight to hang out and goof around?” or “Would you show up to do this movie or read a scene or do a Spider-Man thing?”, it would be a “yes!” Because why wouldn’t I want to do that?

On top of Dunst and Maguire, actor J.K. Simmons also touched on his fan-favorite Spider-Man role. Before Maguire made his return as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Simmons jumped into the MCU first. It started with his cameo at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. He then returned to the next movie, although it was really a different version of J. Jonah Jameson. He did say in a recent interview that if Sam Raimi called him for Spider-Man 4, he would "do anything that Sam Raimi approached me with."

Spider-Man 4 is (Not) Confirmed

On multiple occasions, Sam Raimi has talked about how he had to compromise with Spider-Man 3's script after he was forced to add Venom as Spider-Man's nemesis. To ensure he does not make the same mistake twice, he wanted redemption from Spider-Man 4 by ending the franchise on a high note. Unfortunately, to his dismay, the film's production reached a crucial deadline, but he was not satisfied with the end product of the script. To avoid repeating Spider-Man 3's fate, Sam Raimi stepped away from Spider-Man 4, while Sony went ahead with Andrew Garfield's alternate Spider-Man storyline.

Spider-Man 4 Release Date

After Tobey Maguire showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it proved that fans still loved the original Spider-Man movie actor. It also opened up the chance he could return in not just one but two movies other than Spider-Man 4. The first is an obvious landing spot, although one that wouldn't include Maguire in a live-action role. This would be Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is rumored to include not only Maguire's Spider-Man but also Andrew Garfield's version as well. This is a realistic possibility since the trailers have already shown that there will be several versions of Spider-Man showing up in the Miles Morales animated movie.

However, there is also a new rumor hitting that Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man could pop up in the MCU again which would be for Avengers: Secret Wars. For fans unfamiliar with the comics, this is an event that sees all the different Earths destroyed one by one. In the end, there is one combined Earth ruled over by Doctor Doom and amalgams of heroes exist in this world. Seeing Tom Holland's Spider-Man interact with Maguire again would be interesting, especially in this strange new world. This could also show more of why this particular Spider-Man was so grateful, and give a glimpse at what happened in his world.

Spider-Man 4 Cast

Spider-Man with Curt Connors and Lizard.

Tobey Maguire, Kristen Dunst, J.K. Simmons, and Bryce Dallas Howard were set to reprise their roles in Spider-Man 4 as Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, and Gwen Stacy, respectively. Along with them, John Malkovich's Adrian Toomes/Vulture and Dylan Baker's Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard were scripted as Spider-Man 4's primary villains. According to reports, Anne Hathaway was also taken on board to play Spider-Man's superhero ally, Black Cat. Other confirmed cast members of Spider-Man 4 included Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brant, Bill Nunn as Robbie Robertson, and James Cromwell as George Stacy. In addition, Bruce Campbell was also considered for the movie's secondary antagonist, Mysterio.

Sam Raimi is known for seamlessly blending horror into Spider-Man's coming-of-age narrative without compromising on the franchise's feel-good overarching themes. While the director was only dipping his feat into creating this mishmash of genres in the Spider-Man trilogy, he was seemingly digging his horror roots deeper into the series by featuring the Vulture as Spider-Man 4's main antagonist. As storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson revealed, John Gavin Malkovich's super-villain did a lot of "ugly stuff" while working for the government as a private contractor and notoriously got his name from not leaving anything but bones behind during his evil endeavors.

Vulture's BTS images also suggest that Raimi was planning to recreate the terrifying realism he brought to the big screen with Doctor Octopus' life-like cybernetic tentacles. Unfortunately, Spider-Man 4 was canceled before Raimi could bring life to his ambitious take on Vulture. Owing to this, even though the MCU has introduced Micheal Keaton's Vulture, it is hard not to appreciate Sam Raimi's efforts for creating a relatively grittier version of the villain.

Spider-Man 4 Story Details

Spider-Man Tobey Maguire With Homecoming Vulture

Although Spider-Man 4's exact storyline is unknown, the bones of its premise can be guessed based on the bits and pieces of information made available over the years. Since it is a sequel to Spider-Man 3, the movie probably gave Parker's torrid relationship with Mary Jane a break after everything they went through in the preceding film. At the same time, the web-slinging superhero must also be grieving the death of his best friend, Harry Osborne. Since Spider-Man 2 and 3 briefly highlight Dr. Curt Connors' relationship with Peter Parker, Spider-Man 4 would have focused more on his transformation into The Lizard and his motivations for hating Spider-Man.

While initial rumors suggested that Anne Hathaway's character, Felicia Hardy, would become Vulture's partner-in-crime, Vulturess. However, Sam Raimi later dismissed the rumors and confirmed that Hathaway's Hardy would team up with Spider-Man as Black Cat. The details surrounding Vulture's antagonist arc are still under the covers. However, his costume design and backstory suggest that he was likely written as one of Spider-Man's most ruthless enemies. Official concept art from Spider-Man 4 also featured classic antagonists such as Mysterio, Rhino, and Shocker. However, given that Vulture and The Lizard were the primary villains, the others were likely scripted as secondary characters.

The creators of Spider-Man 4 had also visualized a climactic battle between Spider-Man and Vulture, which almost kills the superhero. However, with a twist of fate, Spider-Man would have eventually gained an upper hand by snapping parts of the Vulture's wings. Taking Vulture's downfall as a cue, Spider-Man 4's second half was also supposed to introduce Toomes’s daughter as Vulturess, who could later set the stage for Spider-Man 5. According to rumors, Angelina Jolie was considered for Vulturess, but Spider-Man 4's production never reached that point.

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