Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is a mess. On one side of the web, you’ve got Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter tripping over each other at the box office. On the other, Venom 3 teases Knull as the next big villain. Played by Andy Serkis in The Last Dance, Knull is essentially Marvel’s Thanos with better hair. Sounds like an epic setup, right? Except nobody knows what Sony plans to do with him, or if they plan to do anything at all. That uncertainty is why fans keep circling back to the one idea that feels like it could actually work: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4.
Fifteen years after Sony scrapped it, the dream refuses to die. And now, Mattson Tomlin, co-writer of The Batman Part II, is stirring fans’ hearts again. He’s openly trying to reach Raimi and pitch a script that would bring Tobey Maguire back as Spider-Man.
In July 2025, Tomlin laid out his vision during a fan Q&A. He wants a film that shows Peter Parker juggling family life while still pulling on the mask at night. “I would love to write a script where Tobey’s Spider-Man is balancing family and crime-fighting,” he said. For fans who watched Maguire’s awkward teen Peter grow into an adult hero, the idea of him now as a husband and father feels like the natural next step.
Tomlin hasn’t exactly been subtle about his mission. When asked on social media if he’d contacted Raimi, his reply was a simple “Trying!” A day later, on September 29, he doubled down: “Call the real Sam Raimi.”
Of course, fan reactions on X were a little mixed. “We good on that. It’s not the 2000s anymore you got NWH for closure… This nostalgia poisoned culture is weak. Look to the future,” wrote one fan. “Sam wants to do it, Tobey wants to do it, this guy wants to do it… What the f**k are you waiting for Sony? Are you alergic to money?” wrote another. But others felt that Tobey is far too old, and there’s a good chance that Sony would mess it all up again. “Tobey is 50 lol. I hope we see him in Doomsday or Secret Wars but that’s probably gonna be the last time we see him swing from a web,” one fan pointed out, while another kept it simple, “Please don’t give Sony any more ideas.”
The Raimi trilogy still holds a special place in superhero movie history. Spider-Man 4 was actually scheduled for a summer 2011 release before creative differences derailed the project. Raimi had planned to cast John Malkovich as Vulture, bring Dylan Baker’s Dr. Connors full Lizard, and maybe even sneak Bruce Campbell in as Mysterio. Instead, Sony hit the reset button, gave us The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, and left Raimi’s fourth film as one of Hollywood’s biggest “what ifs.”
Of course, Tobey Maguire did return in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, stepping back into the suit alongside Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland. That cameo only fueled the hunger for more, especially since Raimi proved he still has the chops for superhero storytelling with 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He’s even said he’d be open to directing Spider-Man again, provided the right story came along.
Meanwhile, Sony is moving ahead with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Holland’s fourth solo outing. But for older fans, the ones who grew up with Raimi’s version, the dream of Spider-Man 4 lingers. Tomlin’s pitch could be the bridge between nostalgia and something genuinely fresh. It could also be the lifeline Sony’s struggling Spider-Man Universe desperately needs.
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