Sam Raimi Explains Why He Won't Direct Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Sam Raimi returns to the Marvel universe, but he won't be tackling Spider-Man again - at...

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Sam Raimi returns to the Marvel universe, but he won't be tackling Spider-Man again - at least not without Tobey Maguire. Starting with Spider-Man in 2002, Raimi and Maguire collaborated on Sony's initial Spider-Man trilogy, reuniting for Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and Spider-Man 3 in 2007. A Spider-Man 4 was cancelled before Sony rebooted with Andrew Garfield replacing Maguire as the younger Peter Parker. It was originally scheduled for May 2011 with Maguire and Raimi returning. The Raimi-verse appeared to be coming to an end.

However, the Multiverse then appeared.In Sony and Marvel Studios' crossover film Spider-Man: No Way Home, Maguire swung over the Spider-Verse and into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, accompanied by Raimi-verse villains Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church).

With its blockbuster box revenue, the threequel brought together three generations of Spider-Men, bringing together Maguire and Garfield's variant Peter Parkers with Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man, and reignited fan interest in the cancelled Spider-Man 4 and The Amazing Spider-Man 3. So far, Sony has only stated that it is actively developing a Spider-Man: No Way Home sequel for Disney's Marvel Studios, with Holland starring and Kevin Feige producing.Will Raimi return to the wall-crawler on Holland's untitled Spider-Man 4? With Jon Watts, the director of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, possibly exiting the franchise after No Way Home, will Raimi revisit the wall-crawler on Holland's untitled Spider

Raimi told The Los Angeles Times, "I love Spider-Man." "I like Tom Holland in the role, but if I directed a Spider-Man film, I'd have to cast Tobey Maguire or he'd break my neck."

In addition, the director of Doctor Strange 2 stated that ""I liked No Way Home," he said, describing the mega-hit as "a whole audience thrill ride." The audience was oohing and ahhing, and it had a wonderful heart to it. It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends."

It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends."

Raimi had stated in a recent interview that he "currently [doesn't] have any intentions" to return with Maguire on a resurrected Spider-Man 4, noting, "[Sony's] so successful with the new Spider-Man series that I don't know if that's going to happen or not." That is something I haven't pursued."

Related: Marvel Confirmed Next Villian after Thanos

Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams, is now showing exclusively in cinemas.