Sam Raimi Discusses ‘Spider-Man’

Hold onto your web fluid capsules, Spidey fans. It’s gonna be a while before your friendly neighborhood wall crawler swings his way back onto the big screen.

Sam Raimi sat down with MTV to discuss his recently announced return to the Spider-Man franchise, and admitted that it could take some time for the sequel to get off the ground.

"I’m really excited about Spider-Man, and I’m hoping to direct it," he tells MTV. "I don’t have a script yet, but production would start probably by March 2010." That gives Raimi and his team plenty of time to sit down and figure out how to approach the franchise, especially in light of rumors that back-to-back sequels will be filmed.

"That had been talked about," admits Raimi. "[Shooting back-to-back] would be a real endurance test, probably only Peter Jackson knows how hard something like that would be."

"If Tobey and me, and all the producers, like the story for two pictures and [Sony co-chairman] Amy [Pascal] wanted to do it, then we would do it. [The script] just hasn’t been written yet."
 

Several characters in Raimi’s Spider-Man universe are no longer alive, but that doesn’t mean they’re not with us. Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn appears in all three films despite his death in the first film. Will it be the same for James Franco, whose Harry Osborn followed his father to the grave in Spider-Man 3?

"I wish I could work with James Franco again, but his character died in the last one," says Raimi. "Fortunately, we’ve been able to bring back all the dead characters [like Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn or Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker]."

The director acknowledges that "it gets harder and harder" to justify these cameos, especially with the living Osborn element all but gone.

As for Kirsten Dunst, who recently proclaimed the now famous "I’m in" regarding Spider-Man 4, may not be quite as locked in as previously thought.

"I’d love to work with her again," Raimi says. "I hope she’ll be written into it. I couldn’t imagine making one without her, and I think she’s an important part of the movies."

Of course, Raimi couldn’t get away without discussing what the fans really want to know about: Spidey’s next nemesis. Raimi’s aware of the fan favorite pick, the Lizard. Dylan Baker plays Curt Connors in all three Spider films thus far, and most people think its time that he gets his big moment to shine.

"[Baker’s] a great actor, and I think one day the Lizard’s story will be told," Raimi concurs. "I don’t know if it will be in this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet."

Lizard or not, it’s going to be a long wait for the next Spider-Man, but it’s certainly comforting that Sam Raimi and his trusted associates are already thinking about Peter’s next adventure.