Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the most popular superhero movie franchise in the world, the honor used to belong to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film series. Building off Blade and X-Men, Spider-Man opened in theaters in 2002 and smashed box office records, including setting the record for the biggest opening weekend of all time during its release. The sequel, 2004's Spider-Man 2, was another box office hit, earned rave reviews, and is considered one of the best superhero movies. 2007's Spider-Man 3 might have received mixed reactions, but it was another hit, and the stage was set for the series to continue with Spider-Man 4.
Yet in 2010, Sony Pictures made the shocking news to cancel Spider-Man 4 and reboot the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man. Why did Sony decide to reboot their most popular film franchise? Here is everything we know about the canceled entry in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man saga and why Sony pulled the plug on Spider-Man 4 in favor of a reboot.
Update January 11, 2024: Spider-Man 4 was canceled 13 years ago today, so to honor the major moment in film history, this article has been updated with even more information about Spider-Man 4.
What Was the Plot of Spider-Man 4
While Spider-Man 4 was never released, a great deal of the plot is known. The filmmakers considered Kraven the Hunter or Lizard but finally settled on The Vulture as the primary villain, with actor John Malkovich cast in the role. Vulture would have had a history working with the government as a private contractor and earned his nickname due to his brutality, leaving nothing but bones behind. The film would have seen an epic fight between Spider-Man and Vulture in midair and the Vulture dying.
Felicia Hardy, here the daughter of the Vulture, would take up the mantle of Vultures instead of Black Cat like in the comics though this has been denied by Raimi, who insists she would have been Black Cat. In a funny coincidence, Anne Hathaway was cast as Felicia Hardy, and after the movie was canceled, she landed the role of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. Anne Hathaway has since revealed that while she got the part in the movie, she never actually read the script apart from the audition sides. She never even got to see what her costume would have been.
The movie would have also had an opening sequence montage with Spider-Man taking on many of his classic B and C-tier villains, including Prowler, Rhino, and Shocker. The most notable would have been Bruce Campbell playing Mysterio, paying off the joke that Campbell had appeared in all three of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies as different characters.
Little is known about the life of Peter Parker in the planned Spider-Man 4, which was always an important aspect of the Spider-Man movies. Part of the reason details might be scarce because the scripts were trying to work around the possibility that Kirsten Dunst may not return.
Spider-Man 4 Was Getting Expensive
At the time of its release, Spider-Man 3 was one of the most expensive movies ever made. Despite being a major box office moneymaker, each movie was costing more and more due to the salaries of the stars and directors. Both Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire were confirmed to return in 2008. Notably, Kirsten Dunst was not officially signed on.
Rumors circulated that Bryce Dallas Howard's Gwen Stacy was introduced in Spider-Man 3 as a potential romantic replacement for sequels. This also might explain the addition of Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy, possibly a new romantic interest for Peter Parker's Spider-Man. Dunst reportedly was paid $10 million for Spider-Man 3. If the studio was trying to cut costs, they may have opted to forgo Dunst in favor of a cheaper star for a new romantic interest. While not officially confirmed, it may have played a factor in the behind-the-scenes issues with Spider-Man 4.
More Clashes With Raimi and Sony Pictures
Spider-Man 3 was heavily criticized for being packed with plot threads and villains. Sam Raimi originally wanted the film to focus on The Sandman and Vulture, two classic Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Spider-Man villains. Both Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment CEO Avi Arad forced Raimi to drop Vulture in favor of Venom due to the character's popularity among fans and merchandise potential. Raimi was not a particular fan of Venom but relented and tried to make the character work.
With Spider-Man 4, Raimi wanted to have more control over the project than he had on Spider-Man 3 and wanted to deliver what fans expected from the first two movies. Raimi said he could not imagine making Spider-Man 4 without Dunst, likely leading to some behind-the-scenes conflicts with the studio regarding the budget. He once again wanted to include Vulture as the primary villain and also brought in Felicia Hardy, who was at one point in the script for Spider-Man 2.
It appears, though, that Raimi did consider other villains. After two cameos in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, Raimi wanted to have Dylan Baker transform into The Lizard, but Sony Pictures wanted a villain with an expressive face like Doc Ock. Ironically, Lizard would be used as the villain in The Amazing Spider-Man, the film that replaced Spider-Man 4. Raimi also revealed he also considered Kraven the Hunter, but it is unknown how far that idea got through development before settling on Vulture.
Spider-Man 4 Production Delays Forced The Cancelation
Sony Pictures set Spider-Man 4 for release on May 6, 2011. This would have been a little over four years from the release of Spider-Man 3. James Vanderbilt, hot off of Zodiac, was hired to pen the script for Spider-Man 4 in October 2007. Vanderbilt was also hired to begin work on scripts for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6. In November 2008, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire was hired to rewrite the script, with filmmaker Gary Ross coming on board in November 2009 to do another rewrite.
Finally, Alvin Sargent, who helped write Spider-Man 2, came on board for one final crack at the script. Despite all the rewrites, Raimi reportedly hated the scripts. He told Sony he could not meet the May 6, 2011, release date and deliver a satisfying film and decided to depart from the project.
On January 11, 2010, the decision was made to scrap Spider-Man 4 entirely and reboot the franchise. Sony Pictures quickly announced The Amazing Spider-Man and set a release date for July 3, 2012. Eight days after The Amazing Spider-Man was announced, Sony hired Marc Webb to direct. On July 1, 2010, it was confirmed that Andrew Garfield would play Spider-Man. It remains unclear why Sony did not move the release back on Spider-Man 4 to give Raimi more time to work on the movie, but at this point, it seemed like everyone involved wanted to try something different and Sony wanted something cheaper.
Spider-Man 4's Cancelation Has Massive Ripple Effects
Disney
Spider-Man 4 being canceled had major ramifications for the film industry. The vacant May 6, 2011 release date would quickly be scooped up by another Marvel superhero movie, Thor, which was part of the growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. This made Thor the first movie of the summer movie season in 2011, which likely helped it gain a $65 million opening weekend. Thor's previous May 20, 2011 release date was then taken by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
It also clearly led to the creation of The Amazing Spider-Man. While Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were already rising talents by the time they got cast (they were both the leads of major Sony Pictures in 2010 when they got cast with Garfield in The Social Network and Stone in Easy A), they were launched into superstardom with their roles in The Amazing Spider-Man. Not only did the two date on the set, but they also were able to use their newfound star power to take on more exciting roles that eventually led to 2016, where Garfield starred in both Silence and Hacksaw Ridge, the latter of which he was nominated for an Academy Award for, and Stone winning Best Actress for her role in La La Land.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 would be canceled, similar to Spider-Man 3, with the announcement also coming with the news of a replacement reboot film. In the case of The Amazing Spider-Man 3, it was revealed the next Spider-Man would appear in the MCU first in Captain America: Civil War and then in his own film, which would become Spider-Man: Homecoming. While it appeared that both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were done as Spider-Man, they eventually would return in the 2021 film Spider-Man: No Way Home. It acted as the third MCU Spider-Man film and a semi-continuation for those previous versions. It would go on to become the seventh highest-grossing movie at the worldwide box office with $1.9 billion.
Will Spider-Man 4 Ever Come Out?
It has been seventeen years since the release of Spider-Man 3 and over thirteen years from when Spider-Man 4 was intended to be released in theaters. Despite the Spider-Man franchise having rebooted twice with both The Amazing Spider-Man series and the MCU series, fans are still hoping to see Spider-Man 4 one day. Sony Pictures reportedly considered bringing back Sam Raimi after the box office disappointment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but the studio opted to make a deal with Marvel Studios to bring Spider-Man into the MCU.
The demand for Spider-Man 4 increased following Tobey Maguire's return as his version of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film purposely keeps his life after Spider-Man 3 vague, likely on the off chance they want to continue the series. Sam Raimi directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel Studios, so there is hope that with Raimi and Maguire having worked within the MCU, they can revisit their Spider-Man storyline once more.
The amount of time that has passed means that they could pick up with an older Peter Parker, maybe one that has a teenage daughter whom he needs to train to be a hero: a perfect chance to bring in Mayday Parker, aka Spider-Girl. Kirsten Dunst has expressed interest in returning as an older Mary Jane Watson, so this might be the perfect story and a way to make a legacy sequel and final installment in the original Spider-Man series.
Part of Marvel Studios' investment in the multiverse as a concept is to bring back previous fan-favorite incarnations of popular characters. With projects like Deadpool 3 being both part of the MCU and sequels to the original continuity, the hope that Spider-Man 4 can be revived in some shape or form seems like a real possibility. Rumors are already circulating that Maguire will return as Spider-Man (dubbed Peter-2 in the MCU) in either Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and/or Avengers: Secret Wars, so it is entirely possible that this Spider-Man's story will continue.