Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 fell apart for a variety of reasons and was ultimately replaced by 2012 reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. The plan had been for John Malkovich to play The Vulture, with Anne Hathaway set to star as Black Cat and Angelina Jolie taking on the role of Adrian Toomes' daughter, The Vulturess.
Tobey Maguire's return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, fans are hoping Raimi - who helmed 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - could one day make the movie.
If he does, chances are it will look much different as we're now dealing with a Spider-Man who is at a much later stage of his superhero career; for all we know, Peter Parker and Mary Jane may have even had kids!
Regardless, today brings a glimpse at what might have been. These unused packaging designs for Spider-Man 4 offer a new look at the web-slinger in artwork once set to accompany action figures and the like. While there's a chance these were only very early attempts, we'd guess there weren't any plans to fundamentally change Spidey's costume (or give this fourth instalment a subtitle any more exciting than "4").
Back in 2022, Raimi shared his delight at seeing characters from his Spider-Man franchise return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and seemingly expressed an interest in being part of continuing the story of Tobey Maguire's web-slinger.
"I’ve always loved Batman," the filmmaker admitted. "If I ever saw the Batsignal up in the air, I’d come running. If I heard that deep, gurgling laugh of The Shadow coming from the darkness, I would also tentatively step outside." Raimi then added, "And Spider-Man would be ahead of Doctor Strange, but I don’t want to put him down the list!"
So, he remains interested in Spidey, but what did the director think about Spider-Man: No Way Home? "I was honoured," Raimi admitted. "It’s like someone said, 'You know your old friends that have passed away? We’ve found a way to bring them back for a brief time.'"
While fans have expressed an interest in seeing a Spider-Man 4 with Maguire, Andrew Garfield being given another shot in The Amazing Spider-Man 3 appears to be a bigger priority for many. If Raimi ends up helming Avengers: Secret Wars, perhaps it's there he'll reunite with Maguire.
Check out these newly surfaced designs in the X post below.