Were you left wanting to see Sam Raimi’s fourth Spider-Man movie? You are not alone. There is a whole generation of fans of the character who missed out on the conclusion of the arachnid saga under the direction of Evil Dead. What happened? Why did such a profitable franchise suffer such an abrupt ending? Well, you probably already guessed it: Spider-Man 3 was to blame.
To offer a bit more context, it is important to explain that the first two Spider-Man movies by Sam Raimi were tremendous box office hits without which the beginning of the MCU by Marvel Studios years later would not be understood. Their social impact was enormous and they wove a very profitable business for those in charge. And yes, Spider-Man 3 as well, because, despite what it may seem, in 2014 it was still the highest-grossing release of the character.
Sony’s Pressures
The reason why Spider-Man 3 marked the end of the series has more to do with the clashes between the director and the studio than the poor reception it had in terms of critics and fan enthusiasm. The main reason is a clumsy narrative development caused by the frictions between Avi Arad, the producer of the series, and Sam Raimi. The director of Evil Dead wanted to continue the story of Parker and his relationship with MJ and Harry Osborn, but Arad insisted that, in addition to Sandman, Venom had to appear in the third film, very popular at that time among comic book readers, and focus on Peter Parker’s alien suit storyline much to the filmmaker’s dismay, as he explained.
Venom in Spider-Man 3
But there’s more drama. After Spider-Man 3, Raimi still felt very connected to the character and wanted to continue working on the saga with at least one more movie, which he believed should be the best and most spectacular of all, making the fans forget about the third installment. Meanwhile, in Sony’s offices, the idea of rebooting the series with a new actor was beginning to be considered, as ultimately done with The Amazing Spider-Man. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The original idea for Spider-Man 4 was to bring back the entire main cast from the first three movies and introduce a new classic villain, Vulture, this time played by Ben Kingsley. But once again, Sony pushed for Venom to return as a villain, against Raimi’s wishes who simply wasn’t interested in the character. From that moment on, there was a strange dance of big star names added to the cast: John Malkovich would end up playing Vulture, and a new romantic interest for Peter, Black Cat, played by Anne Hathaway. The “strange” part comes in because at one point in the film’s development, Hathaway’s character was sort of a sidekick to Vulture, not Felicia Hardy.
Spider-Man 4 production image showing the Vulture wings prototype (via Ken Penders)
One of the ideas that was in this pre-production stage and excited fans was the return of actor Bruce Campbell to briefly cameo as Mysterio. But apparently, Sony still felt that Spider-Man 4 had too few villains, so they pressured Raimi to include The Lizard as well. The final straw for the director was when with production underway, Sony requested a complete overhaul of the main cast to finally reboot the franchise. The director, who at that time had been linked to the franchise for 10 years and had hired the original cast from the previous installments, grew tired of the studio’s pressures and left the project.
Andrew Garfield in Amazing Spider Man
Spider-Man Reboot
Prior to this, Sony was already exploring alternative ideas for the project, even going as far as commissioning a script for a reboot without Raimi’s knowledge. While Raimi’s exit from the production was amicable, it dashed the idea of closing the series with Tobey Maguire and paved the way for the reboot with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 with Andrew Garfield replacing Maguire under the mask. This relaunch of the brand, as you all know, did not quite work out and Sony eventually changed plans again through a deal with Marvel Studios
Coincidentally, many of Sony’s ideas about the character, particularly regarding villains, have endured over the years. A clear example is the presence of The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man; or the introduction of Vulture as a nemesis in Homecoming; another is giving Venom a more prominent role, through his standalone movies; and finally, creating a group of villains to face off against Spider-Man, something that is slowly being done without Spider-Man’s direct involvement through the different movies starring his villains, like Morbius and Kraven.
Alongside all this, it is worth mentioning the persistent rumors that Garfield will return as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, after his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, to capitalize on the Multiverse idea and conclude his own Amazing Saga as an adult Peter Parker facing a massive gathering of villains in a potential film adaptation of The Sinister Six. But in the meantime, the future belongs to Tom Holland, with a Spider-Man 4 already set for release.
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