Those familiar with the ins and outs of Sony’s Spider-Man movie franchise will know that once upon a time a fourth Spider-Man movie was on the cards from director Sam Raimi. The film would have reunited the director with lead star Tobey Maguire, and would have continued Peter Parker’s ongoing story which had been detailed in the Spider-Man trilogy.
But Spider-Man 4 never happened. Instead, the film was cancelled, paving the way for other Spider-Man movies and other Spider-Man actors to take its place.
But what happened to Spider-Man 4? What caused it all to fall apart?
Well, as the story goes, following the financial success of Spider-Man 3 (the film made over $890 million from a budget of $350 million), Sony was keen to get a fourth instalment into production. You see, due to an ongoing rights issue between Marvel and Sony, which meant Sony had to produce new Spider-Man films within a specific timeframe, the clock was ticking, and either Sony acted fast or it potentially relinquished the rights back to Marvel.
This of course was not good news for Sony, so the studio set a specific release date for Spider-Man 4. It was a release date the studio did not want to deviate from, as delays could cost them big time!
Problem was, director Sam Raimi needed more time to prep the movie. Coming off the back of three Spider-Man films, he knew how much of a task a fourth film would be and he simply needed more time to get things off the ground.
Sony didn’t agree. They had a schedule, and he simply had to stick to it – no excuses. With neither side able to see eye-to-eye (Sony certainly wasn’t backing down), Raimi quit Spider-Man 4.
As a result of Raimi walking away, Sony scrapped the movie. Raimi was the glue that held everything together, and without him the prospect of a fourth film in his universe no longer seemed so appealing.
But Spider-Man 4 or no Spider-Man 4, the studio still wanted another Spider-Man movie. And if Raimi wasn’t going to be involved, then a reboot of the entire franchise was deemed the only way forward.
From here on out, Marc Webb took over directing duties, and Andrew Garfield assumed the role of Spidey for the next two films: The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Both films continued Sony’s Spider-Man franchise, and both made money – although, not as much as Spider-Man 3.
Anyway, ever since The Amazing Spider-Man movies were released, and Spider-Man 4 was erased from the history books many have wondered what could have been. What could this fourth movie have offered?
Well, here is the answer thanks to a few snippets of concept art from the abandoned movie.
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What villains would have featured in Spider-Man 4?
The drawings featured throughout this post are the handy work of illustrator, Jeffrey Henderson, an award-winning artist who has worked on numerous movies, games and comics. Henderson was employed as a concept artist on Spider-Man 3 and before the project was cancelled, he was also employed as the concept artist on Spider-Man 4 (the concept artist responsible for these images).
As you can see from these drawings, had Spider-Man 4 made it beyond the initial stages of production, the film’s main villain would have been the Vulture, a character who has plagued Spider-Man since his very first comic book appearance way back in 1963. Ultimately the character made his live-action debut in the Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), where he was played by Michael Keaton, but if Spider-Man 4 had gone ahead he would have featured here – and he wouldn’t have been alone!
Yep, the Vulture wasn’t the only super villain eyeing up some screen time in Spider-Man 4. Additional drawings show that another classic villain was also set to appear: Mysterio the master of illusion!
As with the Vulture, Mysterio was first introduced into Spider-Man comics during the 1960s (1964 to be precise) and has battled Spidey numerous times ever since. His first live-action appearance was in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, with Jake Gyllenhaal taking on the role, but once again, he would have featured in Spider-Man 4.
What is perhaps most interesting is the fact that one of the concept drawings for Spider-Man 4 shows the man behind the Mysterio disguise. In the concept drawing, that man looks like actor Bruce Campbell, who appeared in all three films in the original Spider-Man trilogy.
The concept art offers up a small snapshot into what could have been a rather interesting Spider-Man movie. A Spider-Man movie that Henderson really believed in.
Speaking via his blog Henderson, said:
“It would’ve been one absolutely kick ass movie. Seriously. We were working on some crazy- cool stuff, because everyone, from top to bottom, felt that Spidey 3 was a bit of a ‘missed opportunity’, and we all really wanted to help Sam take SM4 to another level so he could end the series on a high note.”
Of course this is now a moot point, as Andrew Garfield took over from Tobey Maguire in the aforementioned Amazing Spider-Man movies, then Tom Holland picked up the mantle for a collection of Spider-Man movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Spider-Man movie series then pushed further forward with the introduction of the Miles Morales Spider-Man in the Spider-Verse movies, and Sony developed various Spider-Man spin-off movies such as Morbius and Madame Web.
But oh, what could have been. Somewhere, in another universe, Raimi got to make his fourth Spidey film and it was glorious. Probably.
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