Fans who have long hoped to see Tobey Maguire return as Spider-Man under Sam Raimi’s direction may have to let go of that idea, at least for now.
The filmmaker behind Sony’s original Spider-Man trilogy has made it clear that revisiting his version of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson is unlikely, suggesting that their story has already reached its natural conclusion.
Recently speaking to ScreenRantRaimi reflected on his time with the web-slinger and why he thinks it’s best to leave his films in the past.
“Stan Lee’s great character that a bullpen of writers in New York at Marvel had come up with stories about, he created the character, but so many people contributed, so many artists, that for a short time I was handed the torch to carry on after 40 years of Spider-Man comics,” Raimi said.
“And then after my three films, I passed the torch to someone else. And I think they have to keep running with the story and the audience that is now following the torch bearer.”
Raimi explained that superhero storytelling evolves with its audience, and today’s fans are deeply invested in the current era of Spider-Man led by Tom Holland.
Because of that, he doesn’t feel it would be appropriate to step back and revive his own take on the character after new filmmakers take the reins.
In his opinion, the franchise needs to keep moving forward instead of circling back.
Raimi’s Spider-Man the journey began in 2002 with Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, followed by sequels in 2004 and 2007.
After his trilogy ended, the franchise changed direction. Marc Webb introduced Andrew Garfield in the 2012s The Amazing Spider-Manwith a sequel coming two years later.
Marvel Studios later brought Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016 and debuted with Tom Holland in Captain America: Civil War.
Holland’s version quickly became the face of the character Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far from homeand No way home.
The last chapter, Spider-Man: Brand New Dayhas already finished production and is set for release on July 31st.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film features a cast that includes Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink, Mark Ruffalo, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando and Jacob Batalon.
For now, Raimi seems happy knowing he had his moment Spider Man, and that the torch is firmly in someone else’s hands.
