Fans of the Spider-Man film franchise have been hoping that Sam Raimi, who directed the initial trilogy of live-action Spider-Man movies with Tobey Maguire, would return to the series. After all, Maguire recently reprised his role for a special appearance in the MCU, and nostalgia for his take on the character is at an all-time high.
Furthermore, Raimi has proven he has ties to the MCU himself, having recently directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Unfortunately, in a new interview, Raimi has given a disappointing update regarding Spider-Man 4. For fans hoping that things were moving in a positive direction, it seems as though it’s been the opposite.
Here’s what Raimi shared while speaking with Screen Rant:
“After my three movies, I handed the torch off to someone else. And I think they’ve got to keep running with the storyline and the audience that is now following the torchbearer […] Peter Parker and MJ have gone elsewhere. It wouldn’t be right for me to go back and try and resurrect my version of this story.”
In other words, Raimi seems to have accepted that other storytellers are moving the Spider-Man mythos forward. With The Amazing Spider-Man having succeeded Raimi’s films and Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man films having succeeded those, it’s clear that Raimi’s original vision is a thing of the past. While fans were hoping that Raimi would still be interested in showing us where Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane are today, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Of course, it’s not all downhill, especially because Tobey Maguire‘s Peter Parker is still actively being explored. The character had their reintroduction with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now that the Multiverse has tied his continuity to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s quite possible that he’ll appear again in other films such as Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars.
Although we won’t be getting a fourth Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie to follow his original trilogy, we’ll still have Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, and that will have to be good enough in a world where we’re still getting other original Spider-Man movies. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.