Reminiscing on the Pruned Spider-Man 4 Timeline
When the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man 3 was released in theaters in 2007, it wasn’t meant to be the final film in the series: Raimi was meant to return for Spider-Man 4, to be released in 2011. However, Raimi departed from the project over creative differences with the producers and writers, and the fourth movie in this series was never made.
Spider-Man 4
Writing on his own website, storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson has posted his thoughts about the movie as well as published some of his artwork for the project.
The Vulture. Photo Credit: Henderson.
“It would’ve been one absolutely kick ass movie,” wrote Henderson. “We were working on some crazy- cool stuff, because everyone, from top to bottom, felt that Spidey 3 was a bit of a ‘missed opportunity,’ and we all really wanted to help Sam take SP4 to another level so he could end the series on a high note.”
(Fortunately, Henderson did get to collaborate with Raimi on another movie, OZ, the Great and Powerful, which was recently referenced in WandaVision.)
Mysterio, you’re under arrest! Photo Credit: Henderson.
And back in 2019, Raimi himself spoke with Yahoo! Entertainment about the never-made Spider-Man 4: “I think about it all the time… It’s hard not to, because each summer another Spider-Man film comes out! So when you have an unborn one, you can’t help but think what might have been. But I try to focus on what will be, and not look into the past.”
What If… Groovy Bruce Campbell had been Mysterio? Photo Credit: Henderson.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet for Spider-Man: No Way Home, actor J.K. Simmons said that he was “heartbroken” when he learned that the fourth movie would not be made.
J.K. Simmons admits he found it “heartbreaking” when the Sam Raimi #SpiderMan films ended.
He says he is “thrilled” to return to the role of J. Jonah Jameson in #SpiderManNoWayHome and shares new details on the character pic.twitter.com/k0elrV22LV
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 7, 2021
And fans still haven’t gotten over the loss, either. Back in June 2019, Marvel Comics released a teaser for an upcoming Spider-Man comic by the son of J.J. Abrams, who is named Henry Abrams. However… The teaser for new title began with a countdown that started with the number four.
Soon, many internet users were speculating that the teaser was announcing a Marvel Comics adaptation of the never-made Raimi Spider-Man 4… and many of those users were very vocal in their disappointment when their suppositions were undermined.
Multiverse of Madness
Here I come, Tooms! Photo Credit: Henderson.
But keep one thing in mind, Marvel Blog True Believers: a cameo appearance by Tobey Maguire as (a variant of) Peter Parker is not out of the question in the upcoming Raimi-directed movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness…
And that sequel will include a return to the Marvel multiverse for the composer of two and half of the Raimi Spider-Man movies, Danny Elfman. Excelsior!
