Fans who have long hoped to see Tobey Maguire return as Spider-Man under Sam Raimi’s direction may need 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.
Speaking recently to ScreenRant, Raimi reflected on his time with the web-slinger and why he believes 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 for, he created the character, but so many people contributed, so many artists, that for a brief time I was handed the torch to carry on after 40 years of Spider-Man comics,” Raimi said.
“And then after my three movies, I handed the torch off to someone else. And I think they’ve got to keep running with the storyline and the audience that is now following the torchbearer.”
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 in and revive his own take on the character after new filmmakers have taken the reins.
In his view, the franchise needs to keep moving forward rather than circling back.
Raimi’s Spider-Man 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 shifted direction. Marc Webb introduced Andrew Garfield in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, with a sequel arriving two years later.
Marvel Studios later brought Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016, debuting Tom Holland in Captain America: Civil War.
Holland’s version quickly became the face of the character through Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far from Home, and No Way Home.
The most recent chapter, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, has already wrapped production and is set for release on July 31.
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 with Spider-Man, and that the torch is firmly in someone else’s hands.
