Years ago, there were indeed plans for a “Spider-Man 4,” as previously reported in the pages of/Film. It seems Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 4” would have featured the daughter of the Spider-Man villain the Vulture taking over the Daily Bugle, the newspaper where Peter Parker freelances as a photographer. The Vulture would eventually appear in the Marvel Studios film “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and would be played by Michael Keaton. That character would also cross into Sony’s Spider-Spinoff “Morbius,” the highest-grossing film of the 21st century.
As for the rumors about a new “Spider-Man 4,” they were so pervasive that some enterprising fans even set up an IMDb page for the film, implying that it was in pre-production, or had at least been announced. Thankfully, a reporter from Comic Book Resources asked Raimi point-blank about “Spider-Man 4,” and the director was frank, saying that his new Spider-Man is not needed:
“Well, I haven’t heard about that yet. I did read that, but I’m not actually working on it yet. I mean, Marvel and Columbia are so successful with current Spider-Man, and the track there, and I don’t know that they’re going to go back to me, and say, ‘Well, folks, we can also tell that story!’ I’m not sure, but I love all the new Spider-Man movies. I loved ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ It was really, super powerful seeing Tobey again in it.”
Raimi, it seems, has moved on, having seen his own Spider-Man film outpaced by two newer continuities. There doesn’t seem to be, judging by his words and demeanor, any pressing need for him to return to the realm of superheroes.