Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is, for many, the most captivating of the different live-action adaptations of the superhero. A fourth film was in development but never made it to theaters. A decade after it was officially canceled, an animatic from the unmade project has surfaced.
Posted on Vimeo by animatic producer David E. Duncan, the concept video features none other than Spider-Man’s classic villains, Vulture, who fights the superhero in the air. Spider-Man can be seen falling and deploying web-parachutes before crashing into a skylight.
Duncan explained, “One of a half dozen animatics I produced for the ill-fated 4th Raimi Spider-Man. Studio politics, creative differences and bad internet reactions (to John Malkovich as Vulture) caused the plug to be pulled December of 2009, early in the prep stage.”
Despite the critical reception of Spider-Man 3, the film’s box office success prompted Sony to greenlight three further sequels. Several villains were considered for the fourth instalment. As Duncan wrote, actor John Malkovich had been intended for Vulture. However, Raimi also wrote drafts of the screenplay that included the Lizard and Black Cat. However, Raimi was ultimately unable to develop a script that satisfied him and abandoned the project, leaving Sony to go ahead with the reboot starring Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man.
About The Author
