Find out everything we know about Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 4”, canceled when it was already well underway.
4 – When was this supposed to come out?
Even if Spider-Man 3 disappointed part of the public (notably this scene, which Sam Raimi still defends today), it was a hit at the box office, which convinced Sony that a sequel was possible.
In June 2008, while director Sam Raimi had not yet given his agreement to return to the helm, the Sony studio announced a release date for Spider-Man 4, in May 2011. The studio then said that in three years, the project will come to fruition. Oops…
3 – What was the scenario?
At the beginning of 2008, James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) was responsible for writing the story for this episode 4. Subsequently, Sony called on different screenwriters to pitch ideas.
Sony Pictures
Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (future screenwriter of Rabbit Hole) delivers a version with the villain Curt Connors, aka Lizard (already seen in Spider-Man 2 and 3), then rewritten by Gary Ross (Pleasantville).
Michael Ari Seidelman signs a version in which “Spidey” faces Kraven the Hunter without losing sight of the human aspect of Peter Parker. A version appreciated by Raimi, who sees it as an opportunity to shoot great fight scenes, without forgetting to explore the human aspect of Peter Parker.
Sam Raimi, who ends up agreeing to return, is not satisfied with either version and suggests a treatment with Electro and the Vulture as supervillains and Black Cat as Spider-Man’s ally/lover (the romantic aspect with Black Cat being added at the request of the studio).
In this version, The Vulture robs banks and steals a nuclear capsule from a certain Max Dillon, and their confrontation transforms him into Electro. Raimi planned a dogfight over New York between Spidey and The Vulture, but also a battle where Peter found he couldn’t touch Electro.
It is only with the help of Black Cat (whom he first sees as an enemy) that the superhero manages to defeat the two supervillains, who end up allying themselves.
Sony Pictures
This will be the last known proposal. Sony insists on having the Lizard or Carnage as the villain instead, and the situation is tense. As a result, the film was put on hiatus on January 6, 2010.
2 – Who was to return/arrive?
At the time, Tobey Maguire obviously had to return as Peter Parker, as did Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. Michael Papajohn (car thief and Uncle Ben’s assassin) also announces that he will be in the credits.
Sony Pictures
Several actors are cited to play the supervillains depending on the versions of the scenario: we are talking about Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) in the role of Mysterio and John Malkovich in that of the Vulture. This last choice also raises concerns between Sony and Raimi, because the filmmaker absolutely wants this actor, in whom the studio absolutely does not believe.
This is what Mysterio and the Vulture would have looked like!
Anne Hathaway, Romola Garai and Julia Stiles reportedly auditioned to play Black Cat. Hathaway would become years later the famous Catwoman from The Dark Knight Rises.
1 – Why didn’t it happen?
A week after the announcement of the “pause” of Spider-Man 4, on January 13, 2010, Sony announced a reboot of Spider-Man for 2012, without Sam Raimi, and written by… James Vanderbilt, with the Lizard in super-villain!
Sony Pictures
Sony then declares that it wants a Peter Parker “more contemporary and realistic” and, as a result, chose Andrew Garfield (who is coming off The Social Network) to take Tobey Maguire’s place. The title of the film becomes The Amazing Spider-Man.
Let’s give the final word to Sam Raimi, who told his version of the event to the media Vulture (note the coincidence) in 2013:
“The breakup was amicable and unspectacular: we just had a deadline and I couldn’t get a story that worked at the level I wanted it to work. I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3 and I wanted Spider-Man 4 to be of the highest level, the best of all Spider-Man.
But I didn’t manage to get a script together in time, and that’s my fault, so I said to Sony, ‘I don’t want to make a film that’s less than good, so I think that we shouldn’t do it. Do your reboot, which you already have planned anyway.”