Sam Raimi directed the original Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb later stepped in to helm The Amazing Spider-Man movies. When it came time for Marvel Studios to reboot the character, Jon Watts was entrusted with taking charge of the character's MCU adventures.
He did a spectacular job across Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, but ultimately decided to move on from Peter Parker after completing the trilogy. Now, Spider-Man 4 needs a new director and rumours continue to swirl about who will take the helm.
Depending on who you believe, the movie - which is expected to be released in 2026 between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars - is either going to be a street-level story featuring Daredevil and The Kingpin or another Multiversal team-up.
In this feature, we're singling out the filmmakers who would be a good fit for either approach to Spider-Man 4. To see who we've singled out, simply click on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
5. Jon Favreau
After directing Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau was the top contender to take the helm of The Avengers for Marvel Studios. His experience on the sequel seemingly soured him on the MCU, and he instead chose to make Cowboys & Aliens.
Despite moving on to the likes of The Lion King and The Mandalorian, Favreau has remained friendly with Kevin Feige and continued to show up as a supporting character across several franchises (most notably Spider-Man) by playing Happy Hogan.
The actor and filmmaker is clearly well-versed in the web-slinger's corner of the MCU so, once he's done with The Mandalorian and Grogu, Spider-Man 4 sounds like an ideal Marvel comeback to us. Plus, if it does involve the Man Without Fear, what a great example it would be of someone coming full circle seeing as Favreau was Foggy Nelson in 2003's Daredevil movie.
Unfortunately, we don't think the timings will necessarily work here which is why the filmmaker doesn't place higher.
4. John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Drew Goddard, Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, Justin Lin...none of Spider-Man 4's rumoured contenders to direct fill us with excitement (we know many of you are high on Goddard, but go look up what he had planned for Sony's Sinister Six movie).
John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein helped write Spider-Man: Homecoming and, after taking a crack at The Flash, they largely focused on comedy until Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. That movie shouldn't have worked; surprisingly, it did and ended up being one of 2023's most underrated blockbusters, as a result.
Humour permeated throughout that action-adventure and could be key for Spider-Man 4 to stop it from becoming too dark or downbeat in the wake of what Peter went through in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
While not as prolific as some of the other filmmakers listed here, bringing Daley and Goldstein back to the MCU would be no bad thing and, if they help write the thing, we may get some of the charm back that made Homecoming so special.
3. Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy may have declined the offer to direct Avengers: Doomsday, though with the Russo Brothers returning for that and Avengers: Secret Wars, we don't necessarily know that the filmmaker was ever in official talks or ultimately unwilling to work on the movie.
Deadpool & Wolverine has been a massive hit for Marvel Studios and Levy has proven himself more than capable of telling a superhero story which has led to the threequel ranking among the best MCU movies ever made.
While it would be a relatively quick turnaround for him to now return to Marvel Studios for Spider-Man 4, we can easily imagine him being eager to do so given the love and admiration he expressed for Spidey during Deadpool & Wolverine's press tour.
Heck, he may even be the one to deliver the Spider-Man/Deadpool team-up we've been waiting for! Even if that isn't the plan, Levy has all the right attributes to do right by this character in his next outing.
2. Sam Raimi
If Marvel Studios wants to make fans happy, why not turn to Sam Raimi? However, his Marvel record is indeed a bit spotty given that he's essentially 2-2.
Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were instant classics; Spider-Man 3 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness were not. The latter two aren't bad movies, though, and were each largely hampered by studio interference. If the filmmaker is given the chance to take full control of this next movie, then the results could astonish.
Whether it's taking Spidey back to his roots for a Stan Lee/Steve Ditko-inspired adventure or another epic blockbuster which throws the hero into the Multiverse, Raimi should absolutely be a top contender for this job.
And can you imagine if Spider-Man 4 gives him the opportunity to finally reunite with Tobey Maguire?
1. Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead
After collaborating on several movies and TV shows, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead came on Marvel Studios' radar and were tasked with working on Moon Knight.
The directors impressed higher-ups enough to make their MCU return for Loki season 2, a series which still ranks among the MCU's best.
With Daredevil: Born Again in disarray, Kevin Feige entrusted the series to them and, based on everything we've seen and heard, Benson and Moorhead have since delivered a pitch-perfect take on Matt Murdock's street-level adventures. If Spider-Man 4 does end up being a street-level story, who better than these two to pick up where that show leaves off?
On the other hand, if Tom Holland's wall-crawler is about to be reunited with Peter #2 and #3, Benson and Moorhead are also pros with making the Multiverse work on screen, so we're fully on board with them taking charge of this movie either way.