Tobey Maguire Dishes On Potential Spider-Man 4 Delay

Earlier this week, we reported on possible production delays for Spider-Man 4 which pushed the film off of its May 5th, 2011 release date, and to a potential July date instead. That Thor was also scheduled for that May 5th weekend probably also made that date less than ideal. Now we have some details from the star of franchise, Tobey Maguire — who doesn't seem too worried about any production problems.

When asked about the reported delay, Maguire says:

Like anything, it's a process. We're just in the midst of the process. We have a lot of great stuff in terms of story and script. We're just trying to dial it in and get it ready as quickly as possible. Of course, these movies are a very big undertaking and take a lot more time than a drama or something more straightforward.

His response lands somewhere between being realistic and intentionally vague, but there's no doubt that director Sam Raimiwants to make sure that the film isn't a retread of the problems Spider-Man 3 faced. It will undoubtedly take time for Raimi to get the script he wants, and fight back against any potential studio influence (that ultimately turned the third film into a huge mess).

Maguire confirmed that plans are still on for a release sometime in 2011, and went on to express his continued enthusiasm about the franchise:

Not only do I have specific ideas, but the ideas are evolving on the page. It's all happening right now. It's all sort of coming together. It's very exciting to me. I think the evolution of the character is really exciting, to be rooted in the history of what we've done already and to have a continuity, yet have a progression or evolution.

At least he isn't getting tired of the character, something which I'm sure Raimi has been worried about as well. I'm hoping that this next film is more reminiscent of the excellent Spider-Man 2 instead of the last entry, and that Raimi comes at it refreshed from his Drag Me to Hell experience.