MOVIE NEWS – Forget Spider-Man 4. Sam Raimi returns to his roots and plans to rescue one of his cult films from oblivion. The director believes it’s not the right time for a new Spider-Man film starring Tobey Maguire, but rather the time to see Darkman return.

We are only a few months away from the release of Spider-Man: A Brand New Day, the fourth installment in the Spider-Man saga starring Tom Holland. However, many still dream – especially after the success of No Way Home – of seeing a very different film: one starring Tobey Maguire, with the return of Kirsten Dunst, and, of course, directed by Sam Raimi. The question is: are they on board? The American filmmaker has been asked about it, and we have bad news, although there is some positive news for fans of another film in his highly successful filmography.

Let’s start with the latter. Long before revolutionizing the industry alongside Sony with the successful Spider-Man, Raimi tried his hand at the genre with a very different project: a dark film, bearing the director’s distinctive style, which may have been forgotten over time, but which we now consider a cult classic. We’re referring to Darkman. Starring a young Liam Neeson, it began with a terrifying premise: a scientist who, after being disfigured and left for dead by gangsters, survives with enhanced strength and an inability to feel pain. He then embarks on a quest for revenge, using synthetic skin masks that degrade in sunlight to hunt down the criminals who ruined his life.

The film grossed over $50 million in 1990. That success spawned two rather mediocre sequels that went straight to home video and didn’t feature Neeson or Raimi behind the camera. But time marches on, nostalgia grows, and now it seems we might get a new sequel if the stars align: “Ghost House Pictures, the company I work with, is trying to produce the sequel right now. We have a script and two fantastic directors, but we’re still having trouble securing funding. It’s always the same in the movie business”, the filmmaker explained in a statement reported by MovieWeb.

Raimi added nothing more about the project, although it’s striking that he uses the term “sequel” and not “reboot”, which would be more fitting after 35 years. However, we know that Liam Neeson would be delighted to return to the role, based on statements he made in late 2024. Seeing as he’s involved in projects like Cold Storage – a sci-fi horror romp with killer mushrooms – it’s perfectly possible to imagine him once again as Darkman in a new story that recaptures the spirit of the pulp comics.

For him, it wouldn’t be right to make Spider-Man 4 now.

Regarding Spider-Man, Sam Raimi confirmed a few days ago that he wasn’t interested in doing so, offering an indisputable explanation: “After my trilogy, I passed the torch to someone else. I think they should move forward with the story and the audience that now follows the new Spider-Man. (…) It wouldn’t be right for me to come back and try to resurrect my version of this story”, he explained to ScreenRant. He justified his decision by pointing out that another franchise already exists and added that his actors are likely focused on other professional commitments.

Forrás: 3djuegos