Spider-Manfans everywhere are still spending money to seeNo Way Homeon the big screen months after its premiere in December, thanks to the returns of the popular Spider-Men from alternate movie universes. Of course, that includes Tobey Maguire, who originally starred as Peter Parker inSam Raimi’sSpider-Mantrilogy. The actor slipped back into the tights forNo Way Home, teaming up withThe Amazing Spider-Man’s Andrew Garfield and the MCU’s Tom Holland.
It’s unclear if and when we will see Maguire’s incarnation of the web-slinger again, but it’s entirely possible we’ll see it soon enough. It just so happens that Raimi has also recently returned to Marvel by directing the upcoming sequelDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With both Maguire and Raimi working with Marvel simultaneously on separate projects, the odds are perhaps better than ever for the previously-abandoned sequelSpider-Man 4to finally see the light of day.
Raimi himself has teased this possibility in a new interview withFandango. While just a few years ago, he probably would have deemed it impossible, the director now feels that the opposite rings true. Returning to Marvel to directDoctor Strange 2was a big enough surprise for him as it was, so Raimi now admits thatSpider-Man 4isn’t out of the cards after all, especially given how much he enjoys working with Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.
“I’ve come to realize after makingDoctor Strangethat anything is possible, really anything in the Marvel universe, any team-ups. I love Tobey. I love Kirsten Dunst. I think all things are possible. I don’t really have a story or a plan. I don’t know if Marvel would be interested in that right now. I don’t know what their thoughts are about that. I haven’t really pursued that. But it sounds beautiful. Even if it wasn’t aSpider-Manmovie, I’d love to work with Tobey again, in a different role.”
When asked specifically if he wanted to do another Marvel project in general afterDoctor Strange 2, Raimi had this to say.
“Absolutely. It’s like the world’s best toy box to be able to play at Marvel. I’d love to come back and tell another tale, especially with the great management they’ve got there.”
Related:Why Spider-Man: No Way Home Should Have Introduced a New Villain
Spider-Man 4 Getting Canceled Has Always Haunted Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi has spoken out in the past about how it bothers him that he never got that fourthSpider-Manfilm made. In 2019, he toldYahoothat he thinks about it “all the time,” admitting that every newSpider-Manfilm that has come out since basically serves as another reminder of his own movie getting canceled.
“I think about it all the time,” Raimi said. “It’s hard not to, because each summer anotherSpider-Manfilm comes out! So when you have an unborn one, you may’t help but think what might have been. But I try to focus on what will be, and not look into the past.”
Seeing Tobey Maguire back in his Spider-Man outfit has probably got Raimi thinking aboutSpider-Man 4once again. Time will tell if it happens, as the next official live-actionSpider-Manmovie hasn’t yet been announced.
