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Spider-Man 4 was a cancelled film planned to be developed as the fourth installment in the Spider-Man film franchise.

Production

Sony set a release date for Spider-Man 4 for May 5, 2011. Development began in 2008, with Raimi attached to direct and the core cast of the previous films to return. Come 2009, however, Raimi dismissed the rumors that all three films were being made, instead confirming that only the fourth was under development. Sony hired James Vanderbilt in October of 2008 to pen the screenplay, after contacting David Koepp, the writer of the first film. The script underwent further revision by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and once more by Gary Ross in October of 2009. Sony had also hired Vanderbilt to pen scripts for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.

Development on the project began back in 2008, with Raimi already having the film’s villain in mind. Dylan Baker was set to reprise his role as Dr. Curt Connors, with the character finally making his transformation into The Lizard.

About a year into development, the story evolved into including even more villains, and Raimi already had actors in mind for those roles. Actor John Malkovich entered talks to play The Vulture, an elderly criminal who builds a suit that allows him to fly. Malkovich actually went as far as confirming his casting a day before Sony announced they were cancelling Spider-Man 4. Anne Hathaway was also in talks to play Felicia Hardy (a.k.a Black Cat). What interesting about this version of the Hardy character is that Raimi would’ve departed from the character’s prior known alter ego Black Cat, instead making her into The Vulturess, an ally to The Vulture.[1] According to sources online, the film would have had the Vulture buying out the Daily Bugle, forcing Spider-Man to kill him. Vulture's daughter, Felicia, would have had an affair with Peter Parker in order to shatter his engagement with Mary Jane. These rumors were later shot down by Raimi in 2013, when he confirmed that Hathaway would’ve eventually played Black Cat.[2]

Following the 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, Sony was revealed to have been in talks to have Sam Raimi return to the franchise to direct a new trilogy for the character and was in discussion with Marvel Studios about including Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: Civil War.

Concept art revealed in June 2016 showed the inclusion of an opening montage of Spider-Man going up against C and D-list villains, such as Mysterio, the Shocker, the Prowler, and the Rhino, with the Vulture serving as the main antagonist.[3]

The Problems of Spider-Man 4

The problem, however, broke down due to issues of deadlines and fees apply. Raimi had a deadline for Sony, and the project he had in mind needed to delegate a lot of work. Added to this, in mind had a script that excels to the predecessor, but once more the producer I needed as soon as possible and he was aware that it would arrive in time.

That is why, seeing that could not meet the deadlines, and having heard rumors that Sony intended to reboot the franchise, Raimi called the co-chair Amy Pascal and said: "I don't want to make a film that is less than great. Why continue with the reboot that anyway had planned." Pascal, in turn, thanked his gesture, which led to the cancellation of Spider-Man 4 without really any type of confrontation between the parties. On the contrary rather: friendly and mutual agreement of rupture.

Raimi, however, regrets not having been able to do. And it is not for less, since among other ideas, claimed to have brought to The Black Cat, a character that had all the ballots to be played by Anne Hathaway.

Trivia

  • In accordance with Sam Raimi, resigned to the movie because no script seemed good.
  • The idea of including the lizard and the Vulture was originally intended for Spider-Man 3. The actor selected for the Vulture was going to be Ben Kingsley, who finished playing Trevor Slattery/False Mandarin in Iron Man 3.
  • In 2016, six years after the cancellation of the project, Jeffrey Henderson published one of the storyboards for the film, revealing that the character of Bruce Campbell was going to be Quentin Beck, who was to become Mysterio in the film. The storyboards of Mysterio unmasked in the province can be seen in the gallery section of this article.
  • It is also planned two sequels, Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6, which were canceled after the cancellation of this film. It is also planned a spin-off of Venom, whose release date would have been in 2012 or 2013.
    • Before the cancellation of the project, was asked to Sam Raimi if Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 was going to shoot simultaneously, but he denied this and said that Spider-Man 5 would be a direct continuation to Spider-Man 6.
  • Interestingly, Anne Hathaway term playing Catwoman (the enemy of Batman) in the film of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Catwoman is a character well similar to the Black Cat.
  • Gwen Stacy was going to have a more important role in the film, in accordance with the declarations of Bryce Dallas Howard.

References


Raimi Film Series
Films: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3
Characters: Peter Parker/Spider-Man | Mary Jane Watson | Harry Osborn | J. Jonah Jameson | Uncle Ben | Aunt May | George Stacy | Gwen Stacy | Robbie Robertson | Betty Brant | Curt Connors | Flash Thompson | Dr. Stromm | Mr. Ditkovich | Ursula Ditkovich | Maximillian Fargas | Henry Balkan | Rosalie Octavius | Hoffman | Bernard Houseman | Mr. Aziz | Bonesaw McGraw
Enemies: The Green Goblin | Doctor Octopus | The Sandman | New Goblin | Venom | The Carjacker
Locations: The Daily Bugle | Oscorp Technologies | Quest Aerospace | Osborn Penthouse | Goblin Lair
Video Games: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3
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