Avi Arad Wants to Make an Animated Spider-Man Movie With Sam Raimi
Longtime Marvel movie producer Avi Arad wants to team back up with Spider-Man director Sam Raimi [...]
Longtime Marvel movie producer Avi Arad wants to team back up with Spider-Man director Sam Raimi for an animated Spider-Man movie. This is coming off of the Oscar-winning success of 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. That film made several nods to Raimi's trilogy of Spider-Man movies release from 2002 to 2007. Raimi was the first director to translate Spider-Man to the big screen with blockbuster success. He drew inspiration from Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's early stories. Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst played Mary Jane Watson. Raimi came into conflict with Sony Pictures over plans for a fourth Spider-Man film. Having already been forced to include Venom in Spider-Man 3, Raimi departed the franchise.
Arad is still making Spider-Man movies, including spinoffs like Venom and the upcoming Morbius. Speaking to Deadline, he says, "I would love to see what kind of animated Spider-Man movie we'd get from Sam Raimi so if he sees this, 'Call me Sam!'"
Raimi's Spider-Man, with Blade and the original X-Men trilogy, helped show Hollywood that Marvel characters had mass appeal. Before that, many considered Marvel's character too strange for a mass audience. Superman and Batman were successful cinematic superheroes, but they had been around twice as long. Most Hollywood types didn't think Marvel's heroes could be as iconic as Man of Steel and the Dark Knight.
Things have changed. Those early marvel films from Sony and Fox set the stage for Marvel Studios. It has built the Marvel Cinematic Universe, turning Marvel into one of the biggest brands in the world. Sony now works with Marvel to include Spider-Man in those Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Disney's acquisition of Fox means that the X-Men and Fantastic Four are available to use as well.
If Raimi decides he wants to get back into the Spider-Man game, there may be plenty of opportunities for him. After the success of Into the Spider-Verse, Sony is planning sequels and spinoffs. With the entire multiverse available to play with, it shouldn't be too hard to find a film fit for Raimi.
Would you like to see Sam Raimi direct an animated Spider-Man movie? Do you still love Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is now available on Digital HD and releases on Blu-ray and DVD on March 22nd. Raimi's Spider-Man movies are also available on home media.