Marvel Comics Seemingly Teases Comic Book Series Based On Sam Raimi's Unproduced 'Spider-Man 4' [Updated]

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UPDATE: Marvel denies rumor (see below). The original article follows…

With “Spider-Man: Far From Home” just weeks away from hitting theaters, it’s hard to imagine what it was like before Marvel Studios and Sony teamed up to bring fans what is becoming the definitive ‘Spider-Man’ series. However, back in 2002, filmmaker Sam Raimi and his star Tobey Maguire not only were the first to bring Spider-Man to the big screen, but also helped launch the current era of superhero films. However, with the subpar performance of “Spider-Man 3” and Sony’s insistence on not slowing down, Raimi and Maguire were passed up in favor of the ‘Amazing’ reboot.

Now, it appears that Marvel Comics is willing to pick up the slack from Sony and let the fans find out how Raimi would have ended his run on “Spider-Man” with a comic book version of the proposed fourth film in the franchise. That is, if the teasing is to be believed.

READ MORE: Sam Raimi Talks His 1991 ‘Thor’ Pitch & Why He Thought Adding A Stan Lee Cameo To ‘Spider-Man’ Was “Absurd”

You see, over the weekend, Marvel Comics posted a cryptic image of a webbed ‘4’ with no caption. This was followed by Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski retweeting the image saying, “No one is going to see this one coming…”

Obviously, this has zero confirmation that the comic book publisher is going to adapt the proposed fourth “Spider-Man” film for a comic series, but it’s the feeling of 99% of the Internet that this is exactly the case. So, take from that what you will. Clearly, the webbed number alludes to Spider-Man. And the ‘4’ seems to indicate a sequel of some sort. And there is a precedent for comic publishers doing adaptations of unproduced scripts.

Previous unproduced films that have been given the comic book adaptation treatment include William Gibson’s “Alien 3,” Frank Miller’s “RoboCop 2,” George Lucas’ original idea for “Star Wars,” simply titled “The Star Wars,” and more.

READ MORE: Sam Raimi Thinks ‘Spider-Man 3’ Was Awful Too

Also, it’s not out of the question that a detailed pitch for the film exists, as Raimi has spoken publicly about his idea for the fourth film. It just appears that he wanted to take his time on it, instead of rushing it out, as “Spider-Man 3” was so poorly received by fans and critics. However, Sony wanted to keep the cash cow going and instead, decided to reboot the series with Marc Webb at the helm and Andrew Garfield under the mask.

Rumors had “Spider-Man 4” including the Vulture as the villain, who would have been played by John Malkovich.

We’re likely going to hear about what the tease actually is about sooner than later. Perhaps right around the release of ‘Far From Home’ or perhaps San Diego Comic-Con.

UPDATE:
Marvel EiC, Cebulski posted a follow-up tweet, debunking the “Spider-Man 4” rumor: