Spider-Man 3 actor Thomas Haden Church believes that director Sam Raimi may one day return to the franchise that made him one of the biggest names in Hollywood. It's been over a decade since the filmmaker's final take on the web-slinger hit theaters. Spider-Man 3 certainly wasn't the strongest entry in Raimi's trilogy, though it did a decent job of wrapping up Tobey Maguire's arc as Peter Parker, while simultaneously leaving the door open for a possible sequel.
Despite all the development that had gone into it, that sequel never ended up happening. Raimi had worked with screenwriter James Vanderbilt for months on a potential Spider-Man 4, and the latter was even tapped by Sony to pen two more entries into the film series. Potential sequel villains included Felicia Hardy, Mysterio, and Vulture (who was originally supposed to debut in Spider-Man 3). Alas, Sony elected to reboot the series entirely with Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield instead, leaving Raimi and Maguire to move on to other projects.
Related: Spider-Man 3 Originally Introduced Vulture, Not Venom
But according to Thomas Haden Church, who played the villainous Sandman in Spider-Man 3, Raimi might not be done with the franchise forever. In a recent sitdown with JoBlo, Church opened up on his time in the Spider-Man series, eventually suggesting that Raimi may just have another Spidey film in him.
Sam’s production company is still set up there and he’ll always have a home at Sony, but on that particular franchise they parted ways. I think that Sam could come back to it if he was really interested if it doesn’t so far past him, y’know. Sam is only like a year or two older than me. Sam’s got plenty of energy and creative fuel and if they ever invited Sam to come back and do another one, I think he’d consider it, I do.
Church reflects back on his Spider-Man 3 days with nothing but positivity in the interview, though he acknowledges that the film's overstuffed storyline was an issue. Church clearly believes Sony's meddling with the story led to Raimi's departure from the franchise, a sentiment that few would argue against. "Even he thought it was just too much," says Church. "And, to some extent it led to Sam and Sony to part ways." And while that shouldn't come as much of a surprise, the idea that Raimi could once again sign on to helm a Spidey film is a definite shocker.
Raimi has worked more as a producer than a director since stepping away from the Spider-Man franchise, having helmed only two films (Drag Me to Hell and Oz the Great and Powerful) over the last decade. It's been nearly 5 years since the latter hit theaters, though Raimi recently signed on to direct The Kingkiller Chronicle for Lionsgate, so he'll be returning to blockbuster filmmaking in the very near future.
Are you down to see another Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man movie? Would you want to see him realize his Spider-Man 4 vision with Tobey Maguire, or do you think he'd be a good fit to helm an adventure starring Tom Holland's web-slinger? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments.
Next: 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Sam Raimi’s Canceled Spider-Man 4
Source: JoBlo