Director Sam Raimi has been synonymous with the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy, which was a huge success during the 2000s. Given Maguire’s return to the iconic character in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, there have been rumors of a canceled fourth film in the franchise finally materializing.
During a recent interview, Raimi spoke about how he would approach the character if he were to make a fourth Spider-Man film starring Maguire in the title role. Raimi detailed his rough plans for the fourth installment and quickly impressed fans with his approach. Here is why fans believe Raimi’s approach is the textbook definition of a superhero story done right.
Sam Raimi Highlights Plans For Spider-Man 4 With Tobey Maguire
Director Sam Raimi originally planned to make a fourth Spider-Man film starring Tobey Maguire, which never materialized, and the franchise was instead rebooted with Andrew Garfield taking over the role. However, recently there has been speculation that Sony is interested in making another film in Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise.
During a recent conversation with The Wrap, Raimi opened up about how he would approach a potential new installment featuring Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man. Raimi revealed that if he were to make a fourth Spider-Man film, he would first have to figure out the emotional journey of Maguire’s character.
“What obstacles he had to overcome to achieve that growth personally? I hope that the villain would be chosen based on a representation of that obstacle.”
Raimi made the above statement explaining his plans for Maguire’s character in a prospective fourth installment. At the same time, Raimi revealed that he hadn’t put much thought into the storyline for such a film and reiterated that there were no immediate plans for him to develop a sequel to Spider-Man 3, which remains the last entry in his franchise.
Fans Believe Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 Plan Is the Way to Get Superhero Stories Right
After Raimi laid out his plans for a potential fourth entry in his Spider-Man franchise, his words quickly caught the attention of fans online. Fans took to social media to approve of Raimi’s approach and his take on storytelling in the superhero genre.
Here is what fans are saying about Raimi’s proposed plans for Spider-Man 4 on X.
“The villain should be a physical representation of the obstacles he’s facing in his personal growth” he gets it man. He just gets it. https://t.co/8ctHlYFdnk
— Gwumby Wake II: The Final Draft (@gwumbyverse) April 25, 2024
In under a minute he demonstrated that after all these years, he still understands what makes the character stand out from others and how to build this journey. pic.twitter.com/3hZ3NJbbOf
— LuisPereira – DoubleTrouble (@LuisPereiraDT) April 25, 2024
Bro just his description of what it could be.. he really understands film, and he truly understands Spider-Man.
— Preston Jones (@coldorokii) April 25, 2024
17 years later and he's still got it down
— SpaceBot (@ThatSpaceBotGuy) April 25, 2024
Exactly use a villain that works for the story not on because you think you can just use him in whatever without understanding him. pic.twitter.com/3IaUoCnEKV
— King Pink (@King_Pink52) April 25, 2024
As the tweets indicate, fans were impressed with Raimi’s understanding of the Spider-Man character and the superhero genre as a whole. Raimi’s comments about using a villain to mirror the internal conflict and personal growth of a hero in a superhero film resonated with fans of the genre.
Hence, Raimi’s words prove that his approach is the ideal route for any superhero film with character-oriented storytelling taking precedence over action and spectacle. Despite fan excitement, Raimi confirmed in April 2024 that he wasn’t working on a fourth Spider-Man film and doubted the studio would consider revisiting the franchise given their success with the Tom Holland iteration of the character.
The Spider-Man trilogy is streaming on Peacock.
