'I'm not actually working on it yet': Sam Raimi shuts down Spider-Man return rumours

Sam Raimi has played down talk that he could be returning to direct a fourth 'Spider-Man' film.

The 64-year-old filmmaker helmed the 2000s trilogy that starred Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging superhero but isn't sure if Marvel would be interested in his services after the success of the recent movies featuring Tom Holland as Spidey.

Speaking to CBR, Sam said: "I did read that, but I'm not actually working on it yet. I mean, Marvel and Columbia are so successful with the current 'Spider-Man' (movies), and the track there, and I don't know that they're going to go back to me, and say, 'Well, folks, we can also tell that story!'

"I'm not sure, but I love all the new 'Spider-Man' movies. I loved 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'. It was really, super powerful seeing Tobey again in it."

Sam refused to completely write off the prospect of directing a new 'Spider-Man' film as he has an existing relationship with Marvel, although he conceded that lots of conversations would need to take place before a possible project could go ahead.

He said: "I haven't talked to Tobey about it, but maybe Marvel has, or Columbia Pictures.

"But, I just worked with Marvel on a movie called 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'. So, I'm on great terms with them. I'm sure I would hear about it if it was in the works. I think so. I don't know."

Willem Dafoe featured as the villain Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in Sam's original 'Spider-Man' flick in 2002 – before reprising the part in 2021's 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' – and recently admitted that he would be up for returning as the antagonist.

He told Inverse: "If everything was right, sure. I mean, that's a great role. I liked the fact that it's a double role both times.

"Twenty years ago, and fairly recently, both times [were] very different experiences, but I had a good time on both."