At Wizard World Philadelphia, during a question and answer session that included Ted Raimi, Michael Papajohn (aka the carjacker and Ben’s Killer) revealed that he shall be reprising his role for Spider-man 4. No details as to what that entails, if he told us he’d have to kill us.

Astute fans will know, in the first Spider-man movie, the carjacker is chased into a warehouse where he trips and falls to his death. How then, does this character reappear in Spider-man 4?

Maybe he survived and is now a villain? Maybe there’s a flashback?

Todd Black has been speaking with New York Post’s blogger Reed Tucker about ‘The Taking of Peckham 123′, but in doing so also slipped in a couple of Spider-man 4 questions to whet our appetites.

Black confirmed that Kirsten Dunst shall be onboard for the fourth Spider-man movie, although rumors of a wedding between Mary Jane and Peter Parker were shrugged off. As for the villain, Black denied the Morbius vampire rumors that Raimi has thrown at us. As for comments on a villain, he/she shall be New York based, to quote:

We’re just coming up with who the villain’s going to be now. We’ll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it’ll be a big part of New York.

Pitdoc have snapped a shot of the first Spider-man 4 poster at the recent Licensing Show in Las Vegas which comes via AICN. These are available in very high resolution by clicking the image. The second one is a tidy up of the first, cropped and with levels, contrast and color corrected.

Spider-man 4 poster

Spider-man 4 poster tidied up

Sam Raimi has offered up some minor updates on Spider-man 4 during his “Drag Me to Hell” promotional interviews. Speaking with Cinematical, Raimi says:

“I learn lessons on every single picture I make,” he said. “I learned a lot on [Drag Me To Hell], about timing, and that you don’t have to give up any character at the expense of horror. It’s just an excuse that maybe I’ve used in the past. As far as Spider-Man, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about what people didn’t like and missteps that I’d made. But I learned those lessons on the previous two, I was just a little quieter about them. I made a lot of mistakes, and it’s part of the reason I so want to make this next story of Peter Parker.”

Raimi continued, “I really think I know in my heart who the character is, and I haven’t quite been able to sing the song yet, or bring it out to the extent or degree of detail that I feel in my heart that I can. And I may not be successful, but I still feel like I know it better than I’m able to play it; I feel like the kid that really practiced at the piano recital, with years of comic books, and when I got to my other recitals, I sometimes made some missteps with them. There’s a whole crowd there and they think that’s as well as I know the piece, but I really do know it a lot better than that and I would like one more chance at that character. The Spider-Man films, I’ve made mistakes, but I really do look at them as things that I’ve learned, and hope that when I apply what I’ve learned to this next one, I really make a film that people enjoy and is really true to the character in a fresh, original way. That’s my goal.”

Sony Entertainment’s co-chairmen Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton, when interviewed by Forbes for “What’s next for movies?”, revealed the possibility that Spider-man 4 could be in 3D. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this news, so I should point out that the 3D point came from a leading question, it is mere rumor and possibility at this stage. Nonetheless it is an exciting proposition.

What about for live action movies?
Pascal: I think James Cameron’s new movie [Avatar] could change the world. I think everyone is in anticipation thinking it’s going to be like Star Wars. It’s going to change the way you consume entertainment. I don’t know that it will ever be the way you see dramas, but I can’t say anymore that it won’t be.

Are you considering doing any live action movies in 3-D? What about Spider-Man 4?
Pascal: Could be.
Lynton: People are paying a premium to see movies in 3-D and that’s a very big deal. It’s never been done before that someone says you have to pay more to see Spider-Man than a romantic comedy.

Sam Raimi is talking about Spider-man 4 again, this time with Scifi Wire, although again nothing too specific. Raimi hopes that Kirsten Dunst will come on board for Spider-man 4. He goes on to explore the idea of a darker and more edgy Spider-man movie in light of The Dark Knight and Watchmen movies.

“I’m hoping that she is going to come aboard, and I’ve got a meeting coming up with her,” Raimi said in a group interview last week in Beverly Hills, Calif., where he was promoting his upcoming horror film Drag Me to Hell. “I think she would like to. But I don’t want to speak on behalf of her.”

With the advent of The Dark Knight and Watchmen, do you expect that Spider-Man 4 will be a little darker and edgier, too?

Raimi: Whatever it is, I think will be a direct result of the best style to bring about our writer’s screenplay. And as soon as I read that, I will know what that is. Edgy could be a direction, but I don’t think it will be applied without really understanding the character’s journey from the inside out first and then figuring out the best way to bring that about.

And then, as far as the other influences, making it different from the other films, … I hope we don’t react to these very good and sometimes bad superhero movies around us. I hope that we just [look] ever deeper into the truth of who Peter Parker really is—as a human being and the unique character, and that we celebrate that, which is a lot of the reason I want to make this next picture. I still believe I have an understanding of Peter Parker as the character that I have not quite put onto the screen yet.

I’m not talking about Tobey Maguire’s performance, which I very much love; I’m talking about my understanding of the character. I feel like sometimes a kid at the piano recital. And I know this piece really well. I know it by heart. And I sometimes get it right, and sometimes I don’t. But I want a chance to really play it the way I feel it. So I’m hoping it’s a really good screenplay and I can express the character through that. I’ve got a really good writer [David Lindsay-Abaire]. …

In order to reach the May 6th 2011 deadline release date for Spider-man 4, as much as possible must be ready in time for the first production day, as per usual, this means that the David Lindsay-Abaire penned script should be completed by the end of summer 2009, ‘about three months’ to be more precise. SciFi wire also quizzed Raimi about potential villains for the fourth movie, but he declined to comment.

“We have to make the release date, and on all of these pictures, the ‘Spider-Man’ films–and I’m sure it’s the same as with many of the other bigger-budgeted films–they have release dates far in advance of a screenplay/ [...] So it’s about getting it ready the best you can in time for the first day of production. That’s what we’ve always done, and that’s what we’ll try to do again.”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss the villains yet. [...] I think I have to wait till the finished screenplay, and then it’d really be up to Sony Pictures and the producers to determine when they want to release that information. To them, it’s usually a big, a big, big thing, a big moment where they want to present the villain with the proper respect or fear that he or she deserves.”

Raimi has also spoken out about the creative power he would like to wield for the next movie. This comes after the third movie whereby presumably the studio took over some of the creative decisions (is that perhaps what lead to the crazy dancing Peter Parker scene?), via Empire:

“They really gave me a tremendous amount of control on the first two films, actually. [...] But then there were different opinions on the third film and I didn’t really have creative control, so to speak.

The best way for me to move forward on films, is that I’ve got to be the singular voice that makes the creative choices on the film. I love Spider-Man so much that I’d like to continue telling Spider-Man stories. But only under those circumstances where I think I can honour him.”

MTV has spoken Spidey-4 with Sam Raimi; no real juicy gossip bits to be had, but good to hear the project is moving swiftly forward nonetheless. It does appear that the dual Spider-man 4 & 5 shooting schedule that was previously rumored may have been dropped, possibly in favor of The Avengers movie coming in 2012.

“The writers, producers and I are working out what the story will be, but we haven’t been talking in terms of Part 4 and 5. [...] I’ve read that [about 'Spider-Man 5’] also, but right now we’re just working on the story for ‘Spider-Man 4,’ just that one film.”

[...]

“We’re definitely talking about working from all the material in the comic books and nothing [invented] outside of that. All the characters or villain or villains, whatever we decide to do will be from Stan Lee’s creations or those that came after him.”

[On who will be the next villain(s)]

“I do have a pretty good idea, but I’m just not a liberty to say yet,”

[On Kirsten Dunst in Spider-man 4]

“I can’t imagine making a ‘Spider-Man’ movie without Kirsten,” he said, seemingly contemplating the idea in his head with a long pause. “Of course it can be done because Spider Man has existed without the character of Mary-Jane but she’s one of my favorite parts and it would be a shame not to have her in the picture. I’m hoping she’ll be in it and I’m planning on having a story with her in it.”