Raimi & Maguire back for Spider-Man 4 & 5!!

All the speculation can finally come to a hault in regards to whether Sam Raimi will return to direct another Spider-Man film and if Tobey Maguire would return as Peter Parker. Deadline Hollywood is reporting today that Sony has locked in both stars for the next two films in the series and that they may even shoot 4 & 5 back-to-back. Nikki Finke reports, "Sources tell me that Sony has recently locked in both veterans of Spider-Man 1 through 3."

Sam Raimi will once again helm another Spider-Man film and this time he is working off of the script Jamie Vanderbilt wrote. Little is known about Vanderbilt's script who also wrote Zodiac, but studio insiders have teased that the villain will be very recognizable. Nikki Finke was told, "once you find out who the villain is, you'll know who's playing it." Could this mean the Lizard finally? Dylan Baker has played Dr. Curt Conners in the last two Spider-Man films so his potential is right there. We all know that Raimi in the past has pushed for more secondary characters, in fact he was bullied into Venom in Spider-Man 3. Raimi's original idea for the third film was a prison break of both Sandman and Vulture. Rumors were that Raimi wanted Ben Kingsley to play the Vulture, but Sony insisted on Venom. I would bank on the Lizard, but let the speculation begin again!

Tobey Maguire just recently came around on the idea of playing Spidey again. Maguire has kept very mum on the topic as of late, mainly saying he wasn't sure he wanted to continue with the role. Sony's co-chairman Amy Pascal who was openly looking for Maguire's replacement, a studio insider told Finke, "She was looking around to cover herself because Sony wanted him badly and Tobey wasn't sure he wanted to do it." Maguire had to stay in the role, I am sure their are others who could pull it off, but Tobey has a niche and needs to let it run its course. Which looks to be what he decide to do, bravo (that and make Sony sweat it out a little bit, to see how sweet the deal could get)!

No deals with Kristen Dunst have been made, but Sony insists that Mary Jane Watson will be in the film. Please keep Kristen "snaggle-tooth" Dunst out of the next two films! Unlike Maguire, Dunst could be replaced in a heart beat. I would hope that scriptwriter Jamie Vanderbilt has decided to keep the helpless screams to a minimum this time around (I have grown far too tired of Mary Jane as the damsel in distress and listening to Dunst's piercing screams).

The script is said to comebck full circle to Spider-Man's main dilemma of sacrifice. A studio insider further explained, "Peter Parker's struggle is about sacrifice." He continued, "Spider-Man is its own thing. Sam Raimi made the first serious superhero movie, and others followed." Hmmmm, Richard Donner's Superman was pretty damn serious! Regardless, gone is the black-suit and the "darker" theme in the fourth film. The studio insider continued to say, "Peter Parker has no dark side of himself. In Spider-Man 3 it was the black costume." Sony is also trying to plan to shoot both films back to back similair to Lord of the Rings or the last two Martix films. The main reason Sony wants to shoot both back-to-back is, it was very hard to get the cast back together. Spider-Man 4 will begin shooting next fall (yeah, one year from now) with a proposed May 2011 release date pending.


What are your thoughts on two more Spider-Man films? Happy to see Raimi and Tobey back? Would you want Dunst back as MJ? What villain would you want to see most (and for heavens sake, do not say Carnage)?