Spider-Man 4 may be about to get the most ironic choice of director

The Marvel Studios Spider-Man franchise is about to join Captain American and Thor in ending its run as a trilogy by adding a fourth movie to its line-up. Yes, Spider-Man: No Way Home certainly brought about the end of the Homecoming trilogy, but Peter Parker's story is expected to continue.

There have been reports and rumors since the previous film's 2021 release, but in the midst of all of that has been the confirmation that Sony and Marvel Studios are indeed working on bringing Tom Holland's webslinger back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A director for the movie has not yet been confirmed, but reports earlier this year have suggested that Jon Watts, who directed Homecoming, Far From Home, and indeed No Way Home, is not expected to return for the fourth installment. However, a new report details some of the directors who could be in contention for the role, and one is a bit ironic.

Sam Raimi could be in contention to direct Spider-Man 4

A new report from World of Reel suggests that Sam Raimi is now in contention to direct Spider-Man 4 for Marvel Studios. While it adds that he hasn't been officially offered the opportunity yet, there have been talks about them doing so, and that isn't surprising to hear considering Marvel's relationship with the director.

Raimi has worked with the studio recently as he was director of 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness but the thing that makes him an ironic choice for the fourth Spider-Man movie is the fact that he very nearly once directed a movie called Spider-Man 4.

Raimi is, of course, best known to superhero and comic book fans for directing the original Spider-Man movie trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. After the third installment left things in a bit of an awkward place, a fourth one was intended to steady things again. Unfortunately, that movie never came to fruition as Sony decided to reboot the franchise, bringing Marc Webb in to direct The Amazing Spider-Man, which was fronted by Andrew Garfield.

Tobey Maguire's return to the role of Peter Parker in No Way Home has had fans begging for him and Raimi to reunite and complete their story with a fourth Spider-Man movie in the original universe, but the director recently revealed that he hasn't heard about that yet. The fact that he's in the conversations to direct a fourth Spider-Man movie in a different Spider-Man universe is an interesting prospect.

According to the report, Raimi isn't the only name that has come up either, with other possibilities being John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the duo who actually wrote 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Given their familiarity with the character, they would make a great choice too.

It's important to reiterate that Marvel Studios has yet to confirm any of this, and until a director is announced, all rumors should be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, the idea of Sam Raimi directing Spider-Man 4 would be fun (even if it's not the version of Spider-Man 4 fans were hoping to see him direct).