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Spider-Man 4 Dead, Reboot Forthcoming

By | January 11th, 2010
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In a huge contradiction to the news about John Malkovich signing on to play The Vulture in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, news has now come out and been confirmed that the picture is now scrapped entirely. Not only that but series director Sam Raimi and the cast (including Tobey Maguire) are out as well. This wraps up what has been a tumultuous few months for the project, and is unsurprising really.

Citing Deadline Hollywood, Raimi allegedly told Sony execs “I can’t make your date. I can’t go forward creatively.” From there the decision to scrap the series altogether and to aim for a reboot in 2012 moved forward.

While the first and second films were great examples of how comic book movies can be good (even though on additional viewings the second film is a bit…hokey), the third film went wildly astray from their successful formula. From what I understand, a lot of that stemmed from studio intervention as they forced the character of Venom into the equation. Any way you look at it, it’s hard to imagine who they could get to replace Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire. While other choices in the cast were dubious (*ahem* KIRSTEN DUNST) at times, the director/star combo always seemed to be in sync with what the vision should have been.

Here’s hoping they find success in the future. To me a reboot is a terrible idea given that we’ve only been given three films. That’s like rebooting a comic series after just three arcs. It’s hard to find a lot of reason in that idea, short of Sony’s obsession with concepts that will make them more money.

Maybe now they’ll let Brian Michael Bendis take a run at scripting this project, although early indicators state that the new version will be scripted by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, the adaptation of Andy Diggle and Jock’s The Losers) and will see Peter Parker and the rest back in high school.


David Harper

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