Could Sam Raimi return to helm another ‘Spider-Man’ picture? If longtime producer Avi Arad has his way, the answer is “yes.”
“I would love to see what kind of animated Spider-Man movie we’d get from Sam Raimi so if he sees this, ‘Call me Sam!'”
Raimi’s first ‘Spider-Man’ movie, released in 2002, was the first film in history to score a $100 million+ opening weekend. That picture starred Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin. James Franco played Norman’s unsuspecting son, Harry, who also happened to be Peter’s best friend.
‘Spider-Man’ also featured the immortal upside-down-kiss-in-the-rain scene between Spidey and Mary Jane, which has been homaged and parodied countless times.
Raimi followed that picture up with the excellent ‘Spider-Man 2’ with Alfred Molina portraying the villain Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus, and the lousy ‘Spider-Man 3’ which became the highest-grossing film in the trilogy. Raimi stated that he was pressured by Arad, among others at the studio level, to use the villain Venom, even though he was unfamiliar with him.
Raimi hoped to achieve redemption with ‘Spider-Man 4’, but because Sony wanted it quickly, he walked away and the studio brought in Marc Webb to reboot the franchise with ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’. Andrew Garfield stepped into the lead.
While those movies did okay financially, they were not well-liked, leading to Sony ending the series after only two installments, and canceling planned spinoffs starring Venom, the Sinister Six, Black Cat, and Silver Sable.
But Sony’s Spider-Brand is back on track after collaborating with Marvel Studios to introduce a new Peter, Tom Holland, which led to the success of Sony’s solo projects ‘Venom’ and the animated ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, which won the Best Animated Film category at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and more.
Sony already has spinoffs planned– a direct sequel, a movie featuring Spider-Gwen, and TV shows. Why not make room for a Sam Raimi flick?
