Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man 4' Would Have Been Epic

The Big Picture

• Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 could have been a redeeming and epic conclusion to the iconic trilogy, but studio interference forced him to include the character Venom, resulting in a weaker film than intended.
• The unmade film would have featured John Malkovich as the Vulture, with Angelina Jolie considered for a prominent role. Bruce Campbell would have had memorable cameos.
• Sony's demands for a 3D release date and Raimi's refusal led to his departure and the cancellation of Spider-Man 4, despite already invested resources. Elements from the film were later used in subsequent Spider-Man movies.

Sam Raimi's early 2000s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire as the titular hero and Kirsten Dunst as iconic love interest Mary Jane will be remembered as a heroic contribution to the burgeoning genre. Mark Edlitz's book Movies Go Fourth reveals many tales and what-could-have-beens about fourth films in franchises. It's a love letter of sorts to the fourth film: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unmade, as told by the creative forces behind them. One of the accounts of an unmade film is especially intriguing and leaves one to wonder what could have been. It could have been redeeming. It could have been epic. It could have capped off an iconic trilogy in an unexpected, challenging way. It could have been Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4.

Spider-Man (2002)

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After being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.

Why Didn't Sam Raimi Like 'Spider-Man 3'?

It's no secret that Raimi doesn't have much love for Spider-Man 3, even citing it as "awful." He had never intended to have Venom appear in the film, allegedly preferring for the movie to feature only two villains, Sandman and the Vulture. But Venom had a large fan base, a substantial number of which were younger. Younger fans mean the potential for more merchandise sales, so artistic integrity be damned. Sony wanted to include Venom in Spider-Man 3 and ultimately forced Raimi's hand. The result was a far weaker entry in the franchise than intended, with Raimi having to try and shoehorn in a character he knew little about and cared for even less. Nevertheless, the film made a ton of money for Sony, just shy of $900,000,000. Spider-Man 4 was a no-brainer, and Raimi, despite his issues with the third film, had already begun pre-production on his vision for the fourth.

For Movies Go Fourth, Edlitz interviewed renowned storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson, who worked intimately with Raimi in pre-production for Spider-Man 4 on the behind-the-scenes story of the unmade film. Henderson was brought on by Raimi for the film, and as Henderson recounts, in one of their first meetings Raimi was explaining the story and acting out the script with action figures, a comical moment he likened to two five-year-olds sitting on the floor in the living room. Raimi was as excited about the project as anyone connected to it, including production designerDennis Gassner, with the understanding that he would be allowed to make the movie he wanted to make.

'Spider-Man 4' Would Feature John Malkovich as The Vulture and a Bruce Campbell Cameo

The villain of the fourth Spider-Man film was slated to be the Vulture, with Raimi approaching Ben Kingsley about the role. Ultimately, the character was cast with a name that would have been simply awesome as Vulture: John Malkovich. He would have a daughter who would play a major part in the story as well, and while that role didn't get cast before the project was canceled, several prominent names were attached. Kate Beckinsale and Anne Hathaway were early contenders, with Beckinsale even doing a read-through with Tobey Maguire. Raimi, though, was leaning towards Angelina Jolie, and while there was no word on who the finalist was, Henderson was instructed to use Jolie's likeness on his storyboards.

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Of course, there is no Raimi film without a cameo from his long-time friend Bruce Campbell, and Spider-Man 4 had a couple of brilliant ideas in mind for the beloved actor. Arguably, the two scenes as described make the fact that the film didn't get made just that much more painful. The first would have been as part of a montage of Spider-Man rounding up villains like the Shocker, the Prowler, the Stilt-Man, and the Rhino (who would have been a guy in a corny Rhino-bodysuit and footie pajamas, not Paul Giamatti's weird armored battle-suit). Finally, Spider-Man would bring Mysterio to the police station, and after taking off his fishbowl helmet, he would be revealed to be Campbell, screaming, "I'll get you, Spider-Man!" The second option was even better. Peter shows up at Aunt May's (Rosemary Harris) for dinner. He knocks on the door, and May answers, saying, "Oh, Peter, I completely forgot about tonight." He says, “It's okay, Aunt May,” as he pushes himself through the door, and there’s Bruce Campbell. Movies Go Fourth explains in further detail the cringe-worthy, utterly hysterical moment that follows.

Studio Interference From Sony Caused Raimi's Departure on 'Spider-Man 4'

Without dropping too many spoilers from Henderson's account, Spider-Man 4 begins with the Vulture, a Black Ops soldier, sent to jail for crimes for which he's been scapegoated. Meanwhile, Peter is enjoying life as Spider-Man, at ease with himself for the first time in ages. But the Vulture can’t be caged for long, escaping from jail and proving to be a terrifying menace, one that Spider-Man has to stop. The back half of the film takes twists and turns to its coda, an unexpected ending that puts a definitive cap on Raimi's Spider-Man narrative. A few of the early drafts included the Lizard as well, bringing Dylan Baker's anticipated arc as Dr. Curt Connors full circle, but it was dropped with the "too many villains in one film doesn't equal success" lesson learned from Spider-Man 3. Sony may have learned that specific lesson, but missed the overall point: trust Raimi and keep your nose out of it.

Issues began with Sony holding fast to a 2011 release date. Then, about halfway through the process, Sony came in and mandated the film would be in 3D, looking to jump on the trend that began anew with 2009's Avatar, even pushing Raimi towards a meeting with James Cameron for a consult about 3D. Raimi balked, asserting that he'd never shot a frame of 3D before, and it was something that he would have had to plan on before pre-production. Raimi's vision for the film was already going to be tight to make Sony's release date without adding the 3D element. It was turning into another battle of artistic integrity against the studio's whims, and Raimi was not going to fight that fight a second time. So, despite millions of dollars having already been spent, sets already being built, and the cast largely in place, Raimi walked away, and Spider-Man 4 got shut down.

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Some elements of Spider-Man 4 were picked up by the Spider-Man films that followed. The Vulture would go on to be the antagonist in Tom Holland's first swing as the hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming, with a costume that hewed closely to what was envisioned for John Malkovich's take. The Lizard would be the villain in the first entry of the Andrew Garfield-led reboot series The Amazing Spider-Man, which was, rather insultingly, announced before the dirt had even been piled atop Spider-Man 4's grave. The presence of both Maguire and Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home revived interest in follow-ups in their respective takes of the character, with Maguire telling People that he would be more than happy to keep appearing in Spider-Man films. At this point, it's unlikely that either would return to the lead role in another film, but there's always the possibility of similar cameos in future MCU/Sony projects. With a fourth Tom Holland-centric Spidey-installment currently in the works, who's to say what franchise characters could be making a comeback? At the end of the day, what's refreshing about Raimi's abandoned Spider-Man 4 story is that, for some, the creative process still means something more than box office returns — and that alone makes Spider-Man4 an important non-entry in the franchise.

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