Now that production is starting to crawl forward for Spider-Man 4, the question of securing all of the primary cast has come to the front of everyone's minds, especially the film's main stars, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. The director of the franchise, Sam Raimi, recently told SCI FI Wire that he is meeting with Dunst soon to discuss her involvement with the film.

"I'm hoping that she is going to come aboard, and I've got a meeting coming up with her," Raimi said. "I think she would like to. But I don't want to speak on behalf of her."

Raimi was also asked whether or not SM4 might move into the "darker" realm of comic book movies, based on the influence of The Dark Knight and Watchmen. Raimi said that he thinks the tone will be "a direct result of the best style to bring about our writer's screenplay. And as soon as I read that, I will know what that is. Edgy could be a direction, but I don't think it will be applied without really understanding the character's journey from the inside out first and then figuring out the best way to bring that about."

The director went on to say that he wants the film to look into who Spider-Man is, and not just react to the good (and bad) superhero movies that have come out between Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 4. He went on to say "I still believe I have an understanding of Peter Parker as the character that I have not quite put onto the screen yet." To make it clear that he wasn't criticizing star Tobey Maguire's performance as Peter, he added "I'm not talking about Tobey Maguire's performance, which I very much love; I'm talking about my understanding of the character. I feel like sometimes a kid at the piano recital. And I know this piece really well. I know it by heart. And I sometimes get it right, and sometimes I don't. But I want a chance to really play it the way I feel it."