Sam Raimi Poised To Direct ‘Avengers’ Grand MCU Comeback

The narrative of Peter Parker, a native of Queens, and his portrayal as New York City’s beloved Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, along with the timeless moral dictum of “with great power comes great responsibility,” has become deeply ingrained in the collective global consciousness. Across numerous cinematic interpretations, different actors have embraced the iconic role of the web-slinging superhero, drawing inspiration from the Marvel Comics crafted by legendary superheroes Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

The hero is practically synonymous with the “Marvel” brand.

Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man — Credit: Sony Pictures

Starting with Tobey Maguire’s rendition in director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy from 2002 to 2007 and Andrew Garfield’s portrayal in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the world has been treated to Multiversal sightings of the hero.

With The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios partnering with Sony Pictures, Holland entered the big screen arena with his debut in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Subsequently, he headlined Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, becoming an integral part of the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and officially bringing Sony’s Spider-Man property back into the main Marvel fold.

Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland as Peter Parker hugging — Credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios

Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga officially began following the end of that Infinity Saga. Some of the major players of the franchise, like Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), officially retired (or, well… died), leaving more than enough room for new heroes to take up the mantle.

Now, the next big Avengers flick is being built up to and set to occur — a direct sequel to the explosively popular Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) — and Sony’s 2002-2007 Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi is down for the job.

Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) dying looking at Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in 'Avengers: Endgame' — Credit: Marvel Studios

Sam Raimi: The Next Avengers Director?

Presently navigating concerns over “superhero fatigue” and the departure of Jonathan Majors, the actor who previously portrayed the Multiverse Saga’s big bad Kang the Conqueror, Marvel Studios appears poised for another major reconfiguration in Avengers 5 (formerly Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers 6, AKA Avengers: Secret Wars.

Jonathan Majors as Kang in Avengers: Kang Dnasty — Credit: Inside the Magic

It appears that a large majority of Marvel characters are faves of the Spider-Man franchise director, who introduced the world to one of the most iconic iterations of the franchise, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man. And according to Raimi himself via ScreenGeek, he’s more than down to direct a whole host of these favorites in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars:

I love 90% of the Marvel heroes that I’ve read in the great Stan Lee Marvel Universe comic books … They haven’t asked me yet. I hope they do.

Sam Raimi clearly seems keen on directing Secret Wars — and a previous working relationship with The Walt Disney Company-owned Marvel Studios is also apparent from 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — one that’s markedly positive, according to Raimi himself. That’s not the only indication that Raimi could be Marvel’s choice to direct the new Avengers installment, however.

Mark Ruffalo as Hulk with Chris Evans as Captain America in Avengers: Endgame — Credit: Marvel Studios

Known Hollywood and anonymous Marvel insider Can We Get Some Toast recently revealed that Marvel’s “last pick” for director has allegedly passed on the Secret Wars project — so a Raimi-led Secret Wars could actually happen, and definitely appears to be hinting at its likelihood:

Can We Get Some Toast: Marvel’s last pick passed on it, so the job IS open ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(quoted) Culture Crave: Sam Raimi wants to direct #AvengersSecretWars

Marvel’s last pick passed on it, so the job IS open ¯_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/OvjirwSx4o

— CanWeGetSomeToast (@CanWeGetToast) April 2, 2024

With such a clear interest from Raimi himself, the only question here is whether Marvel Studios is willing to take on a bit of a risk. Raimi seems to favor a particularly “campy horror” sort of aesthetic, and the original Spider-Man trilogy, while bright and filled with comic book-goofy charm, notoriously veered into the “awkward, cheesy” (and somewhat messy) category come Spider-Man 3, and the introduction of multiple villains.

Raimi’s more recent Multiverse of Madness was also not overwhelmingly well-received, per se.

With frequent complaints being the less-than-impressive handling of the Multiversal elements of the story (neither showing much of the Multiverse, nor very “mad”), the lackluster implementation of new characters like America Chavez, and the bafflingly sudden switch-up of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch’s character from fan-favorite Avenger to creepy, child-obsessed villain did not endear the film much to movie-going audiences and Marvel fans.

Raimi’s track record with handling multiple-character, superhero-ensemble storylines with the finesse required to recreate the cultural sensation that the directing duo of Anthony and Joe Russo (the Russo Brothers) pulled off in Infinity War and Endgame will prove difficult.

Marvel’s only skilled “ensemble story” director, James Gunn, of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, has famously left for greener pastures, to lead DC Studios as the DC Universe’s (DCU) CEO.

Do you think Sam Raimi would be a good director of Avengers: Secret Wars? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!