Sam Raimi confirmed that he had plans for Bruce Campbell’s role and Kraven the Hunter in Spider-Man 4.
Out of the many cancelled projects in the superhero genre of cinema, one of the most interesting films that never ended up getting made was Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4. Following the disappointment of the third entry in the franchise, the director hoped to redeem the series with a fourth film, but the film was ultimately cancelled and Sony ended up rebooting the franchise with director Marc Webb and star Andrew Garfield. Interestingly enough, the cancelled fourth film had some fun plans for Bruce Campbell and the villainous Kraven the Hunter.
Sam Raimi is currently promoting his long-awaited return to the superhero genre: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Naturally, he’s been getting many questions regarding his scrapped Spider-Man 4, including whether or not he’d be interested in returning to direct it. Now, he’s willing to share more of his proposed plans that he had regarding his friend and frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell, and how Kraven the Hunter would’ve factored in. He tells Rolling Stone the following:
RS: What do you miss most from the Spider-Man movie that you never made?
Sam Raimi: I miss the really great cameo we had designed for Bruce Campbell.RS: The rumor was that he was supposed to play Mysterio.
Sam Raimi: That was one of the possibilities. We had other things in mind, too, but that was one of them. And I missed Kraven the Hunter. We were going to work that character into the next Spider-Man; I always wanted to see Kraven fight Spider-Man on the big screen. I thought that would be really unique. He’s the ultimate hunter, and Spider-Man is like the most agile trickster of the skies. And I wanted to see Peter continue forward as a human being.
In Sam Raimi’s three films, Bruce Campbell played a character involved in three different jobs: the first as a wrestling announcer, the second as a theatre usher, and the third as a waiter. The thought of him being Mysterio in Spider-Man 4 would’ve been fun to see. Also, if Raimi wanted to bring Kraven the Hunter into his world, it would’ve been fascinating to see his vision for the character, especially given his background in the horror genre, which would’ve certainly made the sequences memorable.
Ultimately, even though audiences never got to see Sam Raimi’s original plans for Spider-Man 4 come into fruition with Bruce Campbell as Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter appearing, those characters inevitably had their own versions appear years later. Jake Gyllenhaal played Quentin Beck in Far From Home, while a spinoff set in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe with Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff is currently in production.
Kraven the Hunter is currently scheduled to hit theaters on January 13, 2023. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the upcoming movie, the scrapped plans regarding Spider-Man 4, and Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
Source: Rolling Stone
