Trending events. They have become fairly popular on social media channels, with fan bases rallying to voice collective support for anything from the Joel Schumacher cut of Batman Forever to the most successful trending event of our generation, the Release The Snyder Cut campaign. At the very least, they can remind X users of the popularity of a lost project. But every once in a while, the amount of support being shown online catches the eye of the right studio executive, who greenlights a creative decision despite its risky financial stakes, thereby giving the fans what they think they want. And Spider-Man fans hope to do just that, leading to a sequel for one of the best Spider-Man movies ever made.
Sam Raimi and Spider-Man fans are embarking on a new trending event in January of 2024. Well, new in the sense that it’ll be revived on that day, though this group has been pushing for this movie for some time. It’s the Raimi version of Spider-Man 4, a sequel that the Evil Dead director seriously considered as a means to reclaim his franchise following the uneven Spider-Man 3, and potentially swing out of the Spidey series on a high note. I detailed all of this in With Great Power, my nonfiction book on Spider-Man’s Hollywood history. But the story might not be over just yet.
Incase you forgot we want to remind you all that on January 5, 2024 at 10 am EST we are having a trend event. Be there and use the hashtag #MakeRaimiSpiderMan4 🙏 Poster by @Spidercentral16 pic.twitter.com/bx8C8JXM4mDecember 21, 2023
On January 5, 2024 at 10 am EST, fans of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise plan to do a trending event using the hashtag #MakeRaimiSpiderMan4. These supporters have been around for a while, and have made concerted efforts to raise awareness for Raimi’s planned fourth Spider-Man movie. Heading into 2024, they’d like to keep their feet on the gas and keep beating the drum for Raimi. And you know what? I think their goal is actually possible.
Here’s a snapshot synopsis on the Sam Raimi Spider-Man 4 situation. Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 was compromised. Executive producer Avi Arad pushed Raimi to include Venom (Topher Grace), a villain the director didn’t understand or like, and the sequel became one of the first examples of an overstuffed franchise exercise that lacked the heart and humanity of Raimi’s initial two Spider-Man movies. But Raimi had a plan! He’d make one last Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire. He’d focus on The Vulture – another Silver Age Spidey villain, the likes of which he preferred – and close out his portion of the franchise on his own terms.
Alas, the sequel stalled in development, and Sony eventually rebooted the franchise with Andrew Garfield in the lead role.
Should Sam Raimi make Spider-Man 4? Under normal circumstances, I’d call this a pipe dream, trying to resuscitate a sequel that died back in 2009-10. Too much time has passed. Too much water under the bridge…
Except.
Sam Raimi recently returned to the Marvel universe as the director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And Tobey Maguire reprised his role of Peter Parker in the acclaimed (and ridiculously successful) Spider-Man: No Way Home. Several people have been talking about a Raimi-led Spider-Man 4, from Anne Hathaway’s recent comments about reading the script audition sides for Black Cat, and Thomas Haden Church suggesting he’d heard rumors that it might happen. Raimi’s name has even been bandied about for the director’s chair on Avengers: Secret Wars, which might be a multiversal team up movie that features such past Marvel heroes as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Maguire’s Spider-Man. Maybe fans get Raimi and Tobey for that, instead of Spider-Man 4?
All I’m saying is, the feasibility of Spider-Man 4 isn’t nearly as impossible as one might have thought a few years ago, given both Raimi and Maguire’s willingness to continue to play in the Marvel sandbox. Also, as Sony continues to build out it’s Spider-Man adjacent world of Marvel characters with movies like the upcoming 2024 film Madame Web, or Kraven the Hunter, that world will need a Spider-Man. Why not make it Maguire, and let Tom Holland continue to play a variation of Peter Parker in the MCU? There are options, if the studios want to consider them. And if you want to make your voice heard, be ready on January 5, at 10 EST.