Sam Raimi might be a candidate to direct Spider-Man 4, and Sony and Marvel should absolutely dive into that idea. The Web-Slinger has had one of the more adventurous and exhilarating big-screen careers of any superhero, with Spidey kicking off his cinematic adventures with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy.
More Spider-Man
Over the years, Spider-Man has been featured in ensemble movies like multiple Avengers films, animated adventures like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-Verse, and even the 2021 cultural phenomenon Spider-Man: No Way Home, which united Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parkers into a multiversal Web-Head trio.
No Way Home’s $1.9 billion worldwide gross has made Spider-Man 4 a foregone conclusion, but the sequel’s development has been taking surprisingly long. That is if the Marvel rumour mill is to be believed.
The Spider-Man 4 Rumour
A rumour has arisen online suggesting that OG Spider-Man auteur Sam Raimi could potentially be brought on board to helm Spider-Man 4 (via Looper). It should be emphasized that this is just a rumour, and Raimi himself has also debunked other rumours that he is set to direct a Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man 4 for Sony (via Variety). That being said, a Raimi return to the world of the Amazing Spider-Man could be the perfect way to follow up the historic success of No Way Home.
Why Sam Raimi Is Perfect For Spider-Man 4
Sam Raimi entered Spider-Man best known for his work in the horror genre, most notably for directing the Evil Dead franchise, but Raimi’s direction is one of the key factors that made Spider-Man into the hugely well-received smash hit it was in 2002. Moreover, following the sleeper hit of Blade in 1998 and the break-out of X-Men in 2000, Spider-Man was the true turning point for the superhero genre that it into the cultural juggernaut it has since become.
Raimi’s direction also helped make Spider-Man 2 into one of the greatest sequels of all time, and whatever misgivings one may have about Spider-Man 3 (including Raimi himself), its more divisive reception was hardly enough to kill Peter Parker’s popularity with audiences as Spidey’s subsequent box office triumphs have shown.
Indeed, Raimi even returned as a creative consultant on No Way Home, testimony to the impact he’s had on Spider-Man as a character. That influence need not be only directly applied to Peter #2. Right off the bat, Raimi directing Spider-Man 4 would give it a unique marketing gimmick, with Raimi not only making a triumphant return to the Spider-Man franchise but shepherding the story of the MCU generation’s Spidey.
Simply putting “From the director of the original Spider-Man trilogy” in the trailer for Spider-Man 4 would make the sequel an event movie comparable to No Way Home, while that movie’s ending also positions Raimi as the perfect director for it in another way.
Raimi’s aforementioned pedigree as a horror director has occasionally been seen in some of his superhero work, specifically the shockingly terrifying sequence of Doc Ock’s laboratory origin in Spider-Man 2 and the slasher movie-esque stylings of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
A Touch Of Horror
A touch of horror could actually add some unexpected stakes to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker’s new status quo. At the end of No Way Home, Peter is deleted from the world’s collective memory and truly on his own. While Peter is still carrying on as Spider-Man, his efforts to continue operating as a fresh-out-of-high-school superhero have left him with none of the support he once had as an Avenger.
With Peter forced to go it alone against such potential adversaries as the Hobgoblin or the Kingpin, he’s in an arguably even scarier situation on a personal level than facing Thanos ever was. Sam Raimi directing Spider-Man 4 brings virtually everything to the table to make it the perfect follow-up to No Way Home – Raimi’s Spidey street cred, his horror movie sensibilities applied to a story that could really utilize them, and built-in headlines that J. Jonah Jameson himself would envy.
Put simply, if Sony and Marvel haven’t been talking to Sam Raimi about directing Spider-Man 4, they need to start yesterday.
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Spider-Man 3 |
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A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge. |
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| Studio: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, Laura Ziskin Productions |
| Running Time: 2h 19m |
| Release Date: April 16, 2007 (Roppongi Hills Mori Tower), May 4, 2007 (United States) |
| Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Rosemary Harris, J. K. Simmons |
| Director: Sam Raimi |
| Writers: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sargent |
| Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
| Box Office: $895 million |
