Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has finally arrived in theaters this May 6, and it turns out this date is actually a loaded one in terms of Sam Raimi’s Marvel history. The Evil Dead icon returned to the superhero fold for the first time since 2007’s Spider-Man 3 for this MCU sequel, but once upon a time he was set to make another comic book flick, a fabled fourth Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire.
And when was Spider-Man 4 supposed to come out? May 6, 2011. So it means a lot that, 11 years after his last Marvel film was originally due to release, we’re finally getting another Raimi superhero offering. And fans are celebrating this weird cosmic coincidence on social media.
And here’s the Twitter receipt to prove it.
While most are happy to get Doctor Strange 2, though, some are still mourning the loss of more Maguire-Spidey.
Heart unbroken.
It wouldn’t be a discussion about Raimi movies without some Bruce Campbell memes.
Obviously, with both Raimi jumping back into the Marvel game and Maguire reprising his Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, talk of Spider-Man 4 actually happening has reignited in recent times. For his part, the filmmaker has admitted that he’s open to the idea, as his experience on Doctor Strange 2 has taught him that “nothing is impossible.” That said, he’s stressed that it would all depend on whether a good enough story could be found to make it worth doing.
As for what killed off the planned fourth flick, Raimi’s explained that he walked from the project due to time constraints which he felt would impact on his creativity. He has revealed, however, that Kraven the Hunter was set to be the villain. At least we’re finally getting Kraven on the big screen now, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the big-game hunter in his very own movie, coming in 2023.
While we’re still waiting on Spider-Man 4 over a decade later, catch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters this weekend.