Tobey Maguire still 'excited' about 'Spider-Man 4' despite delays

Tobey Maguire knows the franchise needs to turn around after "Spider-Man 3."

Credit: Sony Pictures

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tobey Maguire doesn't think "Spider-Man 4" has become a tangled mess.

The 34-year-old star of the web-slinging superhero franchise said preproduction snags aren't dampening his mood about the fourth installment. The next "Spider-Man" film had been scheduled to swing into theaters May 6, 2011, but that seems unlikely now that "Thor," another big-screen Marvel superhero adaptation, has hammered out the same release date.

"Like anything, it's a process," Maguire said Thursday. "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."

Marvel Studios spokesman Paul Pflug declined to comment on reports that production had stalled amid script revisions.

Maguire, who has played Peter Parker in all three films, said the plan is to still release the movie in 2011, but wasn't more specific about the date. Whatever happens, he's enthusiastic about Spidey's future.

"Not only do I have specific ideas, but the ideas are evolving on the page," he said. "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."

After glowing reaction to the first two chapters, critical response to 2007's "Spider-Man 3" was so-so. Director Sam Raimi was undecided about returning to the franchise after the third movie, but said at the Cannes International Film Festival last year that he didn't like "thinking about a world where somebody else was making the Peter Parker story."

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