Original Spider-Man trilogy actor Dylan Baker has revealed the initial plan for Curt Connors to transform into the Lizard in Sam Raimi’s unproduced Spider-Man 4.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Baker recalls the moment when Raimi informed him that the fourth Tobey Maguire installment had been scrapped by Sony. “I have to say, when Sam Raimi called me up and said that he was not going to be carried on to direct Spider-Man 4 [I was disappointed],” Baker said. “He started to tell me about the script he had written and was ready to do and ready to shoot, but it was not going to be able to be done at the time they wanted it to be done.”
Baker made his first appearance as Peter Parker’s science instructor Dr. Connors in 2004’s Spider-Man 2 and reprised the role in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Had Baker returned for Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, he would have been part of a large rogues gallery that included Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy/Black Cat and John Malkovich as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture. The Lizard eventually made it to the big screen played by Rhys Ifans in the 2012 Andrew Garfield reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man.
“It was just letting the Lizard come out and see the world and it just killed me. I would have loved to have done that,” Baker added. “Luckily, Rhys Ifans was fantastic and I got to go, ‘Very well done,’ while wishing I could have done it.”
Renewed interest in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4
When Maguire returned as the Wall Crawler in the multiverse-centric Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel fans vocalized their interest in a new Spider-Man installment under Raimi’s direction. Though Raimi denied any serious talks with Sony about Spider-Man 4, Thomas Haden Church who played the Sandman in Spider-Man 3 believes otherwise.
“But Sandman, there’s been some rumors that they might ask me to do another Spider-Man, and I’d do it tomorrow,” Church said. “You know, they’ve never asked me to show up in another movie, another Marvel film. But, you know, I think Sam is gonna do another Spider-Man with Tobey [Maguire], and that’s the one that … They had an option for me to do Spiderman 4 when there was going to be a Spiderman 4. They had an option on me to come back. So if it happens, that would be fantastic. I’m getting a little old.”
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is now streaming on Disney+.
