Spider-Man 4: New Details of Sam Raimi's Canceled Film Revealed
New details about Sam Raimi's plans for Spider-Man 4 have surfaced online, painting a good picture of the villains and struggles the webhead would've faced. Spider-Man 4 is one of cinema's greatest movies that never happened, largely because Raimi's films were so beloved with the exception of Spider-Man 3. Raimi had planned to come back and do a fourth film that could top all of the ones before it, but sadly, the film didn't come together and Sony favored a reboot. Many have longed for a fourth film for years, but as time goes on, it seems less and less likely that it will come to fruition.
However, new details about the film shed a light on what could've been. Speaking with CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell for his new book, Great Power: How Spider-Man Conquered Hollywood During The Golden Age of Blockbusters, storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson revealed that Spider-Man 4 would've seen Spidey going up against The Vulture played by John Malkovich. This version of the character would've been some kind of government contractor who did all kinds of dirty work. His super villain name would've stemmed from the fact that "he didn't leave anything but bones behind" when he finished his jobs. To really highlight that, the film would've had a brutal action scene that saw Spider-Man on the brink of death, more than we had seen in previous films. Henderson also confirmed that the film would've had a fun opening montage that saw Spidey rounding up villains that Raimi never intended to use, including Mysterio.
"We were going to open the movie with this montage of all the villains we knew that Sam would never be able to use in Spider-Man movies," said Henderson. "Because Peter, now that MJ has gone, he has finally made peace, and he loves being Spider-Man. He's actually enjoying it. So we were going to try to do The Shocker, Mysterio, The Stilt Man, and that kind of stuff."
It's sad that we'll never get to see this film as it sounds intense, brutal, and exciting. Raimi has stated he'd be open to doing more Spider-Man, though if he did, it seems more likely he'd do a different story. People do seem to want more of Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker following Spider-Man: No Way Home, but there's no telling if he will ever actually return.
Would you like to see Spider-Man 4? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.