8 Spider-Man Movies That Almost Happened
7. Spider-Man 4
Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 may have received a lukewarm reception from fans and critics, but it's actually the highest grossing in the original trilogy, and that was good enough for Sony to greenlight a fourth instalment.
Although Raimi was unhappy with the way Spidey 3 turned out, he set to work on Spider-Man 4 with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst due to reprise their roles.
He got as far as lining up actors to play the film's villains - John Malkovich entered negotiations to portray the Vulture and Anne Hathaway was mooted as the Black Cat.
Concept art from the film surfaced in 2016, revealing an opening montage in which Spidey takes on a band of villains, including the Shocker, the Prowler and the Rhino, as well as outing Vulture as the primary antagonist.
A script for Spider-Man 4 underwent various rewrites - the last coming from Gary Ross in 2009 - before the plug was pulled on the project due to a dispute between Sony and Raimi, who felt he was unable to complete the movie within the studio's deadline.